Ranma and Ryougachan?
by Demino
Summary: AU. An accident at Jusenkyo now means Ryouga turns into a pig with cold water and a girl with hot water. Chapter 9 uploaded: June 5
1. Part 1

Yes it's been revised. So now it's version 2.0. After a lot of people said that it need to slow down and that it need more stuff in it. Some parts are still rushed and I will get around to revise them when I feel like it.  

Daki.

And also thanks for all the positive response

  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. And I don't earn any money from this. So there.   
  
[sign]  
/Chinese/ 

(Thoughts)  
*sounds*  
++++++++++Flashback++++++++++  
  
  
  
  


====================================  
  
Ranma and Ryouga-chan?   
  
Part I  
  
====================================

  
  
The rain poured down over the streets of Nerima as a young, red haired girl ran past people, walking home from work or from shopping, right behind her came a huge panda and a little black pig, a yellow-black bandanna was tied around its neck.   
  
"No way pops" gripping her umbrella tighter, the girl turned to glared at the pig and panda "I'm going back to China for a cure this instance"   
  
"Bweeee" [Stop complaining] Several by passers face faulted as the little pig pulled out a sign from nowhere [I want to get cured more then you] Staring at the panda, the pig flipped the sign again [But this furball is right] glaring at the girl it snorted [Besides, China is not going anywhere] Only the panda saw the other side of the sign saying [I think]   
  
Signing the girl picked up the pig "Your right, one night won't kill me, but we leave first thing in the morning"   
  
The pig bweee an affirmative and whipped out another sign, [Yes, a warm futon] Flipping the sign around revealed even more writhing [Finally no more sleeping on the ground] Looking back at the panda, the pig saw it rip a stop sign out of the ground and lift it up "Bweee" [Ranma, look out]   
  
Ranma-chan stopped "Huh what's wrong Ry..." The rest of the sentence was drowned out as the sign slammed into the back off the girl's head.   
  
"Bwee" The pig bweed in anger. But the panda just held it up by its bandanna, as it picked up the girl and the backpacks laying around them "Kweeee?"   
  


Somewhere else in Nerima, a family meeting was taking place. The Owner of the Tendo Dojo had called in his three daughters to discuss something important. Well Important to him.

Seated around the table located in the common room, were. Soun Tendo, The owner of the Tendo Dojo, and the proud father of three daughters.  

Oldest. Kasumi Tendo, 19 years old. The perfect Housewife, Friendly, outgoing and always cheerful. 

Second Oldest. Nabiki Tendo, 17 years old. Smart, cunning and devious, she is the reason that the dojo hasn't gone bankrupt.

And Youngest. Akane Tendo, 16 years old. An independent, strong willed girl, whit a slight anger management problem. 

"So if one off you were to marry him and carry on the Dojo" Soun Tendo said whit dignity, as he calmly folded his arms to show that what he said was the law.

"Oh my" Kasumi calmly said as she held a hand to her mouth "I sure hope he's older then me. Younger men are so, young"

Nabiki calmly leaned in over the table "I hope he's rich. Poor men are so, poor "

"Nabiki!" Akane pulled her older sister back and slammed her hand down on the table "Why should we marry him?"

Soun Tendo twitched as his daughters all looked at him. Calmly he pulled out a cigarette and stood up "It was decided long ago before any off you were even born " 

Akane seethed whit anger and glared at her father "I can't believe you"

Nabiki shrugged and patted Akane shoulder "Come on Sis. Who knows, he might be cute"

"Nabiki?"

Nabiki Ignored Akane's yell and turned to face her father "Isn't that right Daddy"

Soun Tendo inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke "I don't know, I haven't met him yet" 

Nabiki's eye twitched slightly "You haven't met him?"

Kasumi shook her head and stood up "Oh father, father"

"Hey let go old man!"

"Growf!!"

"Bweeee"

The Tendo Family turned around and looked towards the porch  "Oh Saotome, how I've waited for this" Soun started to tear up and ran out the open door.

Nabiki stood up as well and followed her father "Come on, maybe he's cute"

Akane sighed and stood up. Following her older sister Kasumi out of the door, she turned to hear her sister Nabiki scream in fear. Tensing she watched as Nabiki and Soun came running around the corner. Behind them came a huge panda that seemed to carry someone over its right shoulder, while it was attempting to shake a loudly bweeing piglet off its left, front paw.

The person slung over the panda's shoulder seemed to notice the scared people and smacked the panda on the head "Stop it you moron, you're scaring them"

"These are your friends Daddy?" Kasumi asked whit a concerned voice. Soun merely shook his head. 

Nabiki glared angrily at him "Yeah right. The panda and Pig just decided to visit"

Soun chose to ignore the comment and stepped forward to greet the red haired person lowered down to stand on the floor by the panda  "You wouldn't be Ranma, would you?" Ranma-chan looked to the side and nodded. Soun went into crying mode again and hugged Ranma-chan close "Oh how we've waited for this moment…" Soun stopped babbled as he felt something press into his stomach, something that a boy shouldn't have. Fearful he held Ranma-chan out at arms length and blinked his eyes.

Nabiki curious, as to what could make her father stop crying like that, peeked around him and looked at Ranma-chan, lowering her eyes she frowned and poked one of her breasts. 

"Um don't do that" Ranma-chan said embarrassed.

Nabiki regarded her father whit an angry look "Daddy, he is a she"

Soun seeing the prospect of a comfortable retirement, only playing shogi whit his old friend Genma, while one of his lovely daughters, and his manly future son-in-law looked after the dojo. The fact that a girl had shown up instead of his manly son-in- law could only mean one thing. The school was doom, and thus whit this thought Soun Tendo, Master of the Tendo School Of Anything Goes fainted.

A little while later Soun awoke to see his oldest daughter, Kasumi tending to him. After a second Nabiki's face appeared above him and from the look of it, she was rather upset about something "Poor daddy, He's so disappointed"

   
"He's disappointed!" Nabiki's voice was slightly raised, and made Soun gulp "Some fiancé this is!"

Akane looked at them argue "Stop it you two! He… she is our guest""  
  


Nabiki ignored Akane and continued, "This is all your fault Daddy!" Her voice was coated whit anger "You should have made sure!"

Soun, angry at being talked down to, by his own daughter in front of guests retorted angrily "Well, he said he had a SON!!"

Nabiki pulled Ranma-chan closed and poked her breasts "Do you see a SON here? Hmm? Do you?"

Ranma-chan blushed and lowered her head "Umm… Would you stop doing that!" 

Akane snorted disgusted and looked at Ranma-chan "I'm Akane. You want to be friends?"

Ranma-chan looked at her before nodding "Yes"

Akane smiled and stood up "You practice the art right? Want to spar?"

Ranma-chan turned to see the father and daughter argument still in progress. Her father, the panda was laying around, no doubt waiting to find some hot water. The little lost pig, glaring death at the panda and watching the scene whit resentment "Sure, just a sec." Akane smiled and walked out to the dojo. Ranma-chan watched her walk out before she snug over and picked up the pig "Relax" The pig seemed to cool down and sighed. Ranma-chan walked over to the oldest sister "Um, Sorry, but could you watch my friend here?"  

Kasumi looked up and smiled "Sure, it's cute. What's it name?" 

Ranma-chan blinked and looked down at the pig. The pig was staring right back at her "Uh… Piggy?"

The pig groaned and covered its head whit it's front hooves.   

Kasumi blinked and patted the pig on the head "Piggy, such a cute name" Standing up she brushed off her dress and looked around the room "More tea anyone?"

The panda looked up and waved a paw around while trying to say something. After a few minuets it gave up and pulled out a sign [Can I have some hot water?]

Kasumi regarded the sign and panda before walking towards the kitchen "Such a well trained panda. I shoulder order some bamboo for it"

Kasumi sat the pig down on the counter and looked at a small clock "Oh my. Dinner is late. Now you stay here Mr. Piggy" The pig nodded and settled down to stare at her as she put a kettle on the stove. Humming to herself, she chopped some vegetables, as she sometimes looked up to smile at the pig or sometimes shake her head at the sounds coming from the dojo. After a little while, a sweaty Akane walked in and looked around.  

"Kasumi. I'll be taking a bath okay"

Kasumi nodded, before turning around to look at the pig "Now stay here and watch the food. Our guest would need a bath after her workout"

The piglet nodded and moved over to better see the stove. As Kasumi walked out the door, the panda walked in. Staring at the pig it shrugged and picked up the teakettle. Testing the water temperature it smiled and poured the water over itself.

A Fat, bald, man wearing a white bandanna to cover his baldness, took the place of the panda. Stretching his arms he grinned widely "At least the schools will be united" Grinning he tossed the half empty kettle over his head and walked out the kitchen.

The pig screamed as it saw the kettle head straight for it. Just then the oldest girl stepped into the kitchen again and looked up to see the remains of the hot water fall down on the pig. 

"Oh my" Kasumi held a hand up to her mouth as the pigs turned into a young girl. Long black hair fell down her back. As she stared at Kasumi a crimson blush spread over her whole body, her whole naked body. 

Kasumi felt herself become faint, the last thing she saw was the girl jumping off the table and rushing forward to catch her. Strong arms grabbed her just before she hit the floor.

"Oh, oh my" The girl looked down as Kasumi started to wake up. Her eyes slowly opened and a sigh escaped from her. Slowly sitting up she turned and smiled "Excuse me, but did you just turn from cute little Piggy into a young girl?"

The girl bit her bottom lip and dropped her head low "Yes, I'm really, really sorry about this" Kasumi looked the girl over. Somehow she had gotten hold of a tablecloth and had covered herself up.

"Okay" Kasumi smiled as she fell back down again "I think, I'll take a little nap again"

Just then an angry yell could be heard from upstairs, followed by the footsteps of someone running down the hall. 

The girl looked up "Ranma!"

"I'll drown him in the bathtub" Akane stormed past them and out into the garden. There she ripped the top part of a garden statue off, and turned around to see her sister looking out the door at her.

"What's going on Akane?"

"There's a pervert in the bathroom" Akane growled as she stepped towards the door.

Shrugging Nabiki leaned on the doorframe and smirked at her little sister "So why didn't you kill him whit your bare hands"

"I was scared"

The sound of footsteps could heard coming from behind them, turning they both stared as a young boy sporting a pigtail stopped at the bottom off the stairs

"Who.." Nabiki pointed a finger at him as she blinked her eyes.

"Who are you?" Akane demanded as she prepared to dish out some, severe psychical pain. 

The boy bowed his head and blushed "I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about this" Akane simply dropped the stone statue.

Later all the people were sitting in the common room. Ranma and the old man were sitting near the door opening, Soun Tendo, Nabiki and Akane across from them, Akane whit an angry frown on her face. Off to the side the girl was sitting, looking over Kasumi.  

Akane stared from the boy to the girl. Somehow another girl had shown up, and this one wore really baggy clothes, an oversized yellow, long sleeved shirt and green pants, yellow cord tied the pants to her shins. Around her head she wore the same type off bandanna as the piglet had.  

Nabiki turned to stare at Ranma "What's this about?"

Akane growled and slammed her hand down on the table "Who are you and what happened to Ranma?"

The man held out his hands and stared from one person to the other "Now girls, I can explain this"

Nabiki leaning forward glare right into his eyes "By all means do so"

"I'm Genma Saotome and this is my son" Genma bowed as he introduced himself.

Ranma simply scratched his back head "Ranma. And the girl over there is"

The girl looked up "Ryouga Hibiki" She gave a short polite bow and returned to watch over Kasumi.

Genma frowned "Hmmm? I simply don't know where to start" Suddenly he grinned "Wait how about this" Turning he grabbed Ranma's shirt and tossed him out the door. And right into the koi-pond. 

A few seconds later, the red haired girl surfaced from the spring couching out water "What the hell did you do that for?" 

Nabiki fell forward and stared at her "Now he's a girl"

Genma started to tear up and clenched his fist "My own son. So humiliating. So humiliating"

Ranma-chan jumped up and kicked him in the back head. A huge splash and Genma-panda emerged from the spring "Who are you to talk?" A small brawl started between the two cursed people.

"Stop it you morons" Ryouga kicked them both back into the spring "We're guests here"

 Nabiki shook her head "Why are you even friends whit these people Dad?"

Soun stared out the door as a three-way brawl started, "They weren't like this. Not before they undertook that terrifying training trip to China" The fight in the garden seemed to have stopped and Genma-p walked in whit a girl over his shoulder and a pig in his paw.

Soun nodded "But why don't we let them return to normal and then they can tell us the story.

A few moments later the old man, boy and girl sat in the living room again. Kasumi had woken up and was being given the details by Kasumi. She was looking at Ryouga as she sat down and leaned up the doorframe. 

Genma sat down a teacup and looked up "It all started three weeks ago"  

++++++++++++++++++++   
  


MT. Quanjing, Bayankala range, Qinghai province, China.

"Here sirs we come to famous cursed springs of Jusenkyo," The guide pointed out over a valley filled whit hundreds of pools.  
  


Ranma looked around and put his backpack down "This doesn't look so impressive"

Genma snorted and dropped his own backpack "Well boy, are you ready?" Genma jumped up onto a nearby pole.   
  
Ranma grinned and jumped up onto a pole right after him "Ready, old man"   
  


The guide screamed and stormed towards them "Wait, you no hear tragic story, it vary bad if fall in spring"

  
"Hiyaaaa" Genma jumped into the air and attacked Ranma, who ducked and jumped onto another pole before counterattacking whit a kick knocking Genma into the spring below. Landing on the pole Ranma looked down at the still water and waited for his father to jump back out again. When nothing happened he started to get worried and decide to ask a simple question "Yo pops, we done already"   
  
Suddenly the water in the spring started to bobble and a huge panda came jumping out off it landing on a nearby pole.   
  
Ranma stared at it before looking at the guide "What the?"   
  
The guide responded by holding up a small sign "That Shonmaniichuan, spring of drowned panda. There very tragic story of panda who drown there 2000 years ago"   
  
Ranma nearly face faulted off the pole "You never said anything about that" Looking up he saw the panda jump kick him.   
  


"Pops wait, no!" The kick sent Ranma flying across the valley, and into a spring near the edge. Splashing in Ranma's scream was muffled. After a short while a red haired head poked out of the water. 

  
The guide ran up to the spring that Ranma had landed in "That Nyanniichuan, spring of drowned girl. There very, very tragic story of young girl who drown here 1500 years ago, now who ever fall in spring take body of young girl" Ranma-chan blinked and pulled open her Gi and took in the new assets on her chest before screaming "You see?"   
  
++++++++++++++++++++   
  


Genma stopped talking and sat back down "That was our tragic story"  
 

"You call that tragic" Everyone turned to see Ryouga glaring death at Genma "My story is even worse, it's all your fault"

  
++++++++++++++++++++   
  


A crumbled map was in his hands. Ryouga's eyes watered as he took in the sight if a least a hundred pools dotted randomly across the valley floor below him "It can't believe I made it" Leaning forward he shielded his eyes against the sun "Now where's that coward Saotome?"

"Get back here old man" 

"Huh" Ryouga turned around to stare at a bamboo forest. The sound of someone running could be heard. As Ryouga turned around completely a huge panda burst out off the Bamboo forest and made its way towards him "Gaah" Ryouga panicking at the prospect of being trembled by half a ton of panda jumped into the air. Staring down to watch the panda run under him, he never noticed the girl jumping towards him "Stop I said" Ryouga snapped his head up and managed to make out a mass off red hair and a slightly open Gi.    

A second after he found himself falling towards the ground, after getting a knee in his face. Reacting fast he snapped out his hand to brake the fall, he made a handstand on the very edge of the cliff. Relaxing Ryouga prepared to lean back as the rock broke below him. Screaming he fell into one of the many springs below.

  
++++++++++++++++++++   
  
Ryouga-chan closed her eyes as small tears made themselves known "And that's when I relished that I had been cast into hell"   
  
++++++++++++++++++++   
  
A small black pig surfaced in one of the springs, and bweed in fear as it couldn't swim. As it struggled to stay afloat, it never noticed the panda looking at it. Rubbing its paws together for a second it leaned down to pull out the pig. 

"Bwe?" The pig looked at the one who had pulled it out. 

The panda's eyes blinked as it regarded the pig. After a small while, it seemed to come to a conclusion and nodded. Ryouga convinced that it wouldn't do anything relaxed. Then the panda started to hop back towards the Guides hut, humming a small song. 

Ryouga-p bweed and struggled as he tried to get into a position where the damn sweatband he wore wouldn't choke him.

Entering the hut the panda looked around and spotted the guide "Growf"

The guide looked up and regarded the pig "Ah Sir you find too, too delicious piglet" Whipping out a butchers knife and meat axe the guide grinned "I cook it very nice!" Lifting the meat axe the guide ran it along a sharpening stone "You know, in ground of accursed springs we have the Heitouenniichuan     

"Old man" The door to the hut flew open and a pissed off Ranma-chan stormed in though the door. Knocking over the wok, she gripped the fur off the panda "Did you really think I wouldn't find you"

Genma-p sweated as he saw the anger in his son's eyes. Thinking quickly he looked up and saw the pig struggling. Food was the only way to calm down his boy [Half the bacon is yours]

Ranma-chan blinked her eyes and turned to see a cute pig looking back "Fine old man, but we'll talk about this later"

The guide looked up from shaping the knife and stared at the wok "Unless you find water, we no have pig for dinner"

Ranma-chan pushed Genma-p out the door "You get the water pops" As the panda complained Ranma-chan snarled "The last time someone had to get water, you ran away whit all the food"

A few moments later Genma-p shuffled in though the door holding a filled bucket of water.

As the wok was reset the guide held the pig in over the water, steam soon drifted up as the water started to bubble. As he dropped the pig the guide looked up "Where you get water Sir?"  

The panda somehow produce a sign [From a spring out there]

"Aiya" The guide turned and looked into the water.

"Ow Dammit" A high-pitched scream emerged as a young girl jumped out of the wok. Her skin had taken on a red tone and she was trying to cover herself up as she franticly looked around the hut.

Gulping Ranma-chan looked at the girl before her nose erupted whit a king size nosebleed. Tumbling over she landed on her back. The guide had the decency to turn his back on the girl and was blushing. Genma-P had, in a struck of pure wisdom decided to make a break for it. 

The girl looked around the room whit a puzzled look. One moment she expecting to be boiled alive, the next she was back to her good old self again. So far, the only let down was longer hair, hair that tickled her chest in a strange way. The girl looked down and stared at her rather female chest. Lifting a hand she touched one of them.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo"

The valley of cursed springs echoed whit the scream.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
  
Ryouga sat silently at the table for a few seconds, before she got up and ran out the door.   
  
"Ryouga" Ranma jumped up and stormed after her. Along the way Nabiki tossed a glass off water at him. 

"Nabiki!" Soun scolded as he took the glass from her.

Nabiki smirked and stood up "Just testing it Daddy"

Soun turned and looked out the door after Ryouga and Ranma-chan "That truly is a tragic story, but back to the engagement. So girls who wants to get engaged to Ranma?"   
  
Kasumi and Nabiki looked at each other "Oh Akane is the perfect choice" The said in union as they pushed Akane forward.   
  
"WHAT?"   
  


Nabiki grinned and leaned in "Well you hate boys, don't you? "  
  
"What?"

Kasumi grabbed her shoulders and smiled "You're in luck, he's half girl"

Akane looked at both her sister. How could they betray her like that? Nabiki she could understand but Kasumi "Why

  
Ryouga stared at the fish as they swam around lacily in the cold water "I hate this, what will my parents say, I can just see my father now 'son how dare you do something so perverted'. Before he beats me up and drags me off to who knows where for a cure"   
  
Ranma-chan looked at Ryouga before she sat down next to her on a nearby rock "Cheer up Ryouga, I mean it's not the end of the world" Smiling she tossed a small stone into the pond "I mean Plum gave you those books on the curses "   
  
Ryouga looked up at Ranma-chan "Yeah right Ranma, So I know more about Jusenkyo then before. But that doesn't help me"   
  


Ranma-chan sighed a grabbed Ryouga's shoulders forcing her to look her in the eyes "Listen here Ryouga, I don't care how long it takes but I'll find us a cure. And until then, try to cheer up okay. We've gone though too much, just to give up now"

Ryouga smiled and nodded "You're right. And you're lucky I was there"

  
"Hey, that's the spirit, but you know, I'm the best and there's no way you'll ever beat me"   
  
Ryouga stood up cracking her knuckles "Yeah?"   
  
Ranma-chan smiled back "Yeah"   
  
Suddenly a shadow fell over them, looking they saw Genma and Soun, standing a few meters away pushing Akane towards them "Ranma my boy, meet Akane Tendo, your fiancé"   
  
Ranma-chan looked at Akane as Soun poured hot water over him "Dammit pops, there's no way I'm getting married to her"   
  
Akane face twisted in anger "Well I don't want to be engaged to you either "   
  
Soun and Genma chuckled "Well Tendo old boy, looks like its a perfect match"   
  
"You said it Saotome, they're already arguing like a married couple"   
  
"Shut up" Akane whirled on her father "I'm not marrying that loudmouthed jerk, and that's final"   
  
Ranma glared at her "Who are you calling a jerk?"   
  
Akane pointed at Ranma "You "   
  
"You should have knocked on the door"   
  
"You could at least have said something"   
  
"Whatever, I don't have time for this" Ranma started to walk out of the yard when his father grabbed him.   
  
Genma glared at his son "Where do you think you're going?"   
  
Ranma looked back "To China, to find a cure for me and Ryouga, this is no time for a fiancé" Turning to look at Akane he crossed his arms  "You took a pretty good look at me too" Akane started to get angry "Besides I've seen a girls body plenty of times before. And mine's better built to boot" Ranma turned and walked towards the door.   
  
"Why you" *wham* Ranma found himself laying unconscious whit the remains off a stone statue on her head.

  
Ryouga looked at Ranma-chan "Maybe you shouldn't have said that last part, Ranma" Looking back after Akane, she shook her head "She reminds me off myself, before Jusenkyo"   
  
Picking up Ranma-chan, Ryouga looked at Genma and Soun "Well, where should I put him?"

Soun smiled and turned around "Saotome my old friend, I have prepared my best guestroom for you"   
  
Kasumi grabbed Ryouga as she passed by upstairs "Ryouga-chan, your room is over here"  
  


Ryouga blinked before she looked around "Um, why can't I stay whit Ranma in the guest room" 

Kasumi pattered her shoulder "It wouldn't be a problem and I think you will like some privacy" A look was shot at Nabiki who blinked her eyes innocently "Ranma-kun and Genma-kun will properly need to use the whole room for themselves"  

  
The room wasn't that big but at least it had enough room for a futon, her backpack and a small desk whit a chair, a single window was slightly open in order to let in fresh air. As Ryouga settled in for the night a knock was heard on the door "Come in" Opening the door Kasumi walked in and closed the door behind her.   
  
Looking around the room Kasumi smiled "Mr. Saotome asked me to tell you, that you will be going to school tomorrow along whit Ranma"   
  
Blinking Ryouga sat straight up "But, I haven't been too school for months"   
  
Kasumi laughed and sat down in the chair and looked at the black haired girl "Relax Ryouga-chan, you'll be fine, and Akane will be there to help you" Smiling even more Kasumi looked around the room and finally on the small amount of clothes that Ryouga had put into the dresser "I think I have a uniform you can wear for school tomorrow"   
  
Ryouga sighed "About uniforms, I don't wear girl clothes"   
  
Kasumi frowned, not much. But by Kasumi standard it was earth shattering "I really think you need to wear other clothes Ryouga-chan. If you give me some off your I could adjust them to you"  
  


Ryouga held out her hand and smiled slightly "You really don't have too"

Kasumi looked firmly at Ryouga and talked in a no buts voice "Ryouga-chan, you may have been a boy. But if you dress like that as a girl, you'll attract the wrong type of people"

Ryouga blinked her eyes before she hung her head "Okay"

Kasumi smiled sweetly "Try to get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll shopping for some proper underwear for you"

"What?" Ryouga simply stared as the door closed behind Kasumi "I'm not wearing a bra and that's final"

TBC.  
------------------  
  
Next Ryouga arrives in school and tries to fit in.   
  
------------------

Ja Ne.

Daki.


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is not my property and never will be.   
  
Summery: It's still AU. Ranma and Ryouga are having a morning talk.   
  
[Sign] (Thoughts) *SOUNDS* ++++++++++Flashback++++++++++   
  
  


====================================   
  
Ranma and Ryouga-chan?  
Part II  
Morning Talks  
  
  
==================================== 

  
  
Mornings are beautiful; the way the sun rises over the horizon and brings life to the world. Shortly after, you will hear the sounds of birds waking up to catch their first meal of the day. Nothing will ruin this picture, not even those two loudmouthed, high-spirited young people, having a friendly spar at this ungodly hour.   
  
"DIE!"   
  
Nabiki tumbled out of her bed and looked around her room. One minute she was having a pleasant dream, the next someone was yelling for murder outside her window. Pulling up the shades, she cast a look into the garden. She blinked as she saw the Saotome's and Ryouga's morning practice.   
  
To say she was annoyed would be wrong. She had been able to ignore her little sister's yells in the morning when she practiced. But the sound produced by the three persons in the garden was just too much. Grumbling Nabiki stumbled out the door and towards the bathroom.   
  
  
  
Ranma ducked under a kick from his father and had to jump back as a red umbrella tried to shatter his ribs. Following this, Genma tried to grab his son and toss him into the pond. Unfortunately Ryouga slammed her elbow into the side of the fat man and made a few swiping motions with her umbrella. Ranma calmly ducked all the attacks and grinned. Well, he grinned until Genma kicked him in the back sending him head first into the koi pond.   
  
Ranma-chan jumped out of the pond, spluttering and spitting out water "Why you stupid old…"   
  
Genma merely ignored her and turned to face Ryouga. "Now let's see how good you have gotten, 'girl'" A low growl came from Ryouga, moments before she crossed the distance between them.   
  
Soun looked up from his newspaper and took in the spar. He could see that Genma and Ranma used mostly midair techniques. But this Ryouga seemed to prefer to remain on the ground and fight. From the looks of it, her style was based on strength and speed. For a split second, Soun could have sworn he saw someone else in Ryouga's place.   
  
Outside in the yard things had gone wild as Ranma, after pouring hot water over himself, jumped back into the fight with a vengeance. Ryouga had to jump back a little bit and duck as Genma and Ranma tore over her, kicking and punching. As it was, this fight could last all day, but fate intervened in the form of the oldest daughter of Soun Tendo. Namely Kasumi Tendo.   
  
"Ranma-Kun, Genma-Kun, Ryouga-chan! Breakfast!"   
  
At that sound, all the fighting in the yard stopped and Genma and Ranma hung in the air for a split second, then they fell into the koi-pond. Ryouga jumped back and snapped open her umbrella, successfully deflecting the water away from her.   
  
Ranma-chan and Genma-p slowly came up from under the water and glared at the other.   
  
"Do you three always fight like that?" Ryouga turned her head and smiled as she spotted Akane standing next to her.   
  
"I didn't I would usually go over a few kata's and then some strength techniques" Ryouga turned to look at Ranma-chan and Genma-p. "But these two. No matter where we were, it was always practice, practice, practice"   
  
Akane shook her head and smiled "No wonder they're so good. So how long have you been studying the art? Who trained you, your father?"   
  
Ryouga turned to look at the breakfast table "We should get going before they eat all the food."   
  
Akane stared silently as Ryouga walked away (Was it something I said?)   
  
  
  
The Tendo's stared at the carnage that was breakfast. Genma-p wept as he stared at the bamboo on his plate. Next to him Ranma and Ryouga crossed chopsticks as they tried to steal eachothers food. Living on the road for weeks with Ranma and Genma had forced Ryouga to become faster or starve.   
  
Akane and Nabiki blinked as it looked like a piece of fish was floating around in the air. And then the two rice bowls spun around as rice pieces flew though the air. And then there was the cry of a surprised Ranma-chan as Ryouga emptied her water over her head. And to which Ranma-chan responded by dumping water on Ryouga. The girl and piglet started a small sparring match at the table as Akane and Nabiki sweatdropped at the sight of it.   
  
Genma-p, seeing his son and student occupied, calmly swiped all their food from them. As he munched on a piece of fish, he suddenly got the feeling of doom. Turning he saw one angry red haired girl and a pissed off piglet staring at him. A moment later, Genma went flying out the door and straight into the koi pond. Then the girl and pig started to fight over the remains.   
  
"It's so nice to see friends play."   
  
Akane looked over at Kasumi "Play?" Somehow, she didn't think Kasumi saw the same thing as everyone else.   
  
Across the table Soun took refuge behind his newspaper.   
  
As the food fight died down, Genma-p dragged Ranma out the door in order to talk.   
  
Ryouga-p sat calmly on the table. Kasumi smiled as she scratched him behind the ears "Ryouga-chan, I put some clothes that should fit you on the desk in your room. Please feel free to use the furo." Ryouga-p smiled and nodded his thanks as Kasumi walked down the hall with him.   
  
  
  
"Ahh" Ryouga sighed as she looked at the ceiling. There was nothing like a warm bath to get her muscles to relax. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the edge of the furo. As she lay there in the warm water relaxing, she started to feel her eyes droop, too bad the quiet didn't last long.   
  
"Hey don't do that, furball!"   
  
"Growf?"   
  
Ryouga let out a small eep as the sliding door slammed open and a completely naked Ranma-chan and Genma-p fell in though it. Struggling with Genma-p's heavy weight, Ranma-chan looked over to see Ryouga's eyes poking up over the edge of the furo. Genma-p noticed the dark-blue aura around the girl and scrambled out the door. Somehow he had developed a healthy respect for her temper and silly demands of privacy. Of course, getting kicked though a roof and into low earth orbit a few times had something to do with it.   
  
Ranma-chan quickly spun around, covered her eyes and blushed. "Sorry about that, Ryouga…" A splash of warm water hit her on the head and he felt the transformation. The sound of feet on the wet tiles told him Ryouga had left the furo.   
  
"Ranma…" Ryouga asked as she stopped behind him "Hand me the towels will you?"   
  
Ranma nodded and pushed the two towels backwards into the hands of Ryouga. A shifting sound followed and Ryouga stepped past him. Her hair was still dripping wet and clinging to her back. One of the towels was wrapped around her body and the other was used to dry her hair.   
  
"Ryouga?" Ryouga looked over at Ranma as he sat in the furo "Want me to teach you how to braid your hair?" Ryouga looked at him for a second, before nodding. Ranma grinned. "Fine, I'll meet you in your room in a short while, okay?"   
  
  
  
As Ryouga stepped into her little room, she noticed a neat folded bundled on her desk "Huh?" As she looked closer she noticed that it was a set of clothes, feminine clothes. Ryouga growled at the thought, but, not wanting to insult Kasumi, she pulled the shirt over her head and put the jeans on.   
  
Looking in a small mirror on the desk revealed her worst fear. She looked even cuter then Ranma's girl-form. Pale blue jeans fit loosely around her legs and allowed full movement, tied loosely with a belt from her own clothes. A dark-blue T-shirt with a little bunny on it barely fit over her ample chest. Ryouga blanched and pulled the T-Shirt off.   
  
Digging though her backpack, she didn't notice the shadow outside her window or its camera. It's amazing what the prospect of money could do some people.   
  
Grinning, she pulled out a Chinese traveling shirt and looked at it. Slowly, she put it on. As she turned to stare at the mirror she nearly screamed. The shirt hung loosely around her shoulders, but it was the length of it that made her almost scream. It looked like she was wearing a small dress and black leggings. After ten minuets she finally settled for wearing the Chinese shirt. Of course, this was after small discussion with Kasumi.   
  
As she finished dressing, Ranma poked his head in though the door and stared at her.   
  
Ryouga sighed and looked at Ranma. "What are you up to?"   
  
Ranma stepped in and closed the door "So have you heard about school?" Ranma turned her head around and split her hair in three parts, slowly braiding it as they spoke.   
  
Ryouga smiled. "Hey at least we won't have to look at the panda for a while"   
  
Ranma grinned "Well that is a plus. But I'd rather spend the time training."   
  
Ryouga smirked "Oh, am I getting that far ahead of you?"   
  
"Hey…" Ranma said as he looked at her.   
  
Ryouga laughed as she saw Ranma's expression, then she closed her eyes and sighed. "Do you remember back when we were in high school. Things never seemed to be so stressful back then"   
  
Ranma grinned. "You seemed serious enough in your grudge. Hey, give me one of your bandanas…"   
  
Ryouga pulled off one, and handed it back over her shoulder. "Yeah… hey, what do you mean by that?"   
  
Slowly tying the bandanna around the end of the braid, Ranma smirked. "I mean you were always angry or depressed. I think I only saw you happy when your mother was home, when we talked and when we sparred"   
  
Ryouga tilted her head forward and sighed, "She was the only one who liked me back then. Everyone was afraid of me. And you showed up; you and your carefree lifestyle. You were so much like me" Ryouga grinned.   
  
Ranma nodded "Well, I braided your hair. When we get from School I'll show you to do it." Ryouga looked at the long braid and smiled.   
  
"Kami-sama, I look so damn girlish…"   
  
Ranma grinned. "Hey, could that be because you're a girl?"   
  
Ryouga's fingers cracked loudly as she glared at Ranma. "Ranma, PREPARE TO DIE"   
  
  
  
Kasumi looked up at the sound of feet running across the floor. Seconds later the door slammed open and Ranma ran off, followed by a screaming Ryouga. "Those two are such good friends" Kasumi mused with a smile.   
  
"Wait up!" Akane bolted out the door, trying to catch up with the two martial artists.   
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Well if you're reading this it means my computer troubles are over. First the damn thing crashed and deletes everything. Then the modem decided it didn't want to work and then everything went down hill to another complete crash. Well, things should be working now. By the way, anyone knows off a good place to make a homepage.  

  
Ja Ne. 

Dak, once know as Daki.


	3. Part 3

Disclaimer: See parts one and two.

Summery: AU. After an unfortunate accident *cough* at Jusenkyo by Genma, Ryouga is cursed to turn into a girl with hot water and a small piglet with cold water. Joining up with Ranma and Genma. He now she has settled in at the Tendo's. 

[Sign] 

{Thoughts} 

*SOUNDS* 

++++++++++Flashback++++++++++   
Chinese  
  
  


======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part III

Doctors and upperclassmen

======================================

So far the walk to the school had been quiet and peaceful. Neither of the two girls or boy said much as they walked together. There had been some talk between Ranma and Akane at the start. It hadn't been much, but it was there. Mostly, they had argued about the engagement and how they were not to speak to one another at school. From Akane's point of view they didn't even know each other, while. Ryouga had spent the time thinking about her return to higher education. 

"Yo Ryouga!"

Ryouga looked up as Ranma yelled at her. "What?"

Ranma looked up into the sky. "So how do you think you'll handle school?"

Ryouga shrugged and pulled at her shirt. {Why does this damn thing has to be so long} Slowly she turned to look at Akane. "So what is this Furinkan High School like?"

Akane stopped and stared at Ryouga. "The boys are idiots but besides that, it's fine."

Ranma kneeled on the fence and stared at them "What do you have against boys, huh?"

The fence crumbled as Akane hit a support post with a spinning backfist. "Why don't you butt out, HUH?"

Ryouga backed up a step. "Um shouldn't we get to…"

"BUTT OUT!!" The two yelled at the bandannaed girl

Ryouga meeped as she jumped back. Shaking her head, she gazed on at the bickering duo. {Come on Ryouga, you're the though one. So act like it!"}

"Show some respect your fiancé, boy!" Ryouga looked up to see Genma whap Ranma over the head. "Guess I'll have to teach you some manners!"

Ranma smirked while weaving between the older man's blows. As Genma made a sweep at his Ranma's head, the red-shirted martial artist performed the same maneuver inverted, sweeping his fathers feet from off the railing. "And who's teaching who pops?"

Genma-p glared as he jumped back up from the canal. Ryouga blinked and looked around. She had been so deep in thoughts that she had failed to notice the small bridge they were now on. Looking up, she saw Ranma casually avoid the angry swipes from Genma-p. As Ranma reached the end of the bridge, he made a backward somersault and landed on his feet. Just as he stood up with his trademark smirk, someone threw cold water at him.

Ryouga silently laughed as Ranma held up the oversized pants while wringing out the cold water from her pigtail. "Looking good there, Ranma-chan!"

The red-haired girl looked up and growled as Ryouga fired back with her own smirk. Turning to the source of her gender change, Ranma-chan glared at the old lady as she continued to throw water onto the sidewalk.

Akane stomped past them towards the school, shaking her head. Turning, she scowled as Ranma started to walk back towards the dojo. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Ranma-chan stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "The dojo. I want to take a hot bath. I don't want to start school as a girl!"

Akane strode after the smaller girl and grabbed Ranma-chan's shoulder. "Look, all you need is hot water, right?"

Ranma-chan nodded. "Then I know just the place to get it!"

Ranma-chan and Ryouga glanced at one another before following Akane down the 

street.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Akane said, as she cracked the door open and peered in. After receiving no answer, she opened the door completely and strode in.

Back outside, Ranma-chan stretched up on her toes and sighed. "Some day this is." Ryouga shook her head and leaned against the door, letting a smirk play over her face as she closed her eyes. 

"And what are you so happy about?"

Ryouga open one eye to see Ranma-chan glaring at her. The bandana-clad girl let her smirk grow wider. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Grrr. You looking for a fight?" Ranma-chan said as she  stepped towards the annoying girl. 

Pushing off from the doorframe, Ryouga let her book bag fall to the ground. "Maybe, but I'd have to find someone that can fight first!"

Ranma-chan a step forward cracking her knuckles "Ok, you asked for it Ryouga!" Ryouga grinned as she took up a defensive stance.

"Excuse me?"

The two girls snapped their head around and blinked their eyes. Standing behind Ranma was a skeleton. Screaming, the two girls jumped backwards:. Ranma grabbed on to the top of the door and pulled herself up, while Ryouga did a Spiderman trick and stuck to the side of the wall.

"Ah… I'm sorry about that." Ranma-chan and Ryouga blinked again as they saw a man in his early twenties holding on to the arm of the skeleton. Wearing a black Gi and glasses, he grinned as he patted the head of the skeleton "Did Betty here scare you?"

Just then the door slammed open and Ranma-chan found her fingers mashed between the door and the wall. With a garbled groan she slowly slid down the door and down the ground. Akane glared at the red head before looking up with a gasp. With a quick jerk she slammed the kettle down onto the head of Ranma-chan and bowed. "Dr. Tofu."

Dr. Tofu peered down through his glasses and smiled "Ah Akane-san. I trust everything is fine?"

"Yes" Akane blushed as she focused her eyes on Dr. Tofu's shoes. "I mean I haven't gotten into any fights."

Ranma looked around the corner as he finished pouring the hot water over him. {Hmm… This could be interesting} Ryouga finally noticed she was still holding on to the wall. Slowly easing her grip, she slipped back down onto to the ground and looked between Akane and the doctor.

Tofu smiled and turned to look at Ryouga. "Oh, who is this young lady?"

Ryouga fidgeted and scratched the back off her head as she started to laugh, "I'm Ryouga Hibiki!" Tofu smiled and bowed slightly. The neo-girl blushed at the gesture, and faltered out "Um… I have to go bye!!" Before she bolted down the street. Tofu, Akane and Ranma stared around the corner at her retreating back.

Tofu  smiled as he followed Ryouga's run. "It seems you have found someone as high spirited as yourself, Akane!"

Akane shook her head and stormed off after Ryouga. {What was that about}

Ranma quickly ran out from behind the wall and tossed the empty kettle to Tofu "I'm Ranma Saotome, nice to meet you doc, gotta go!"

Tofu paused as Ranma ran after the two girls, letting his smile turn thoughtful. After a while, the smile returned even more than before. blinked and smiled "Looks like things are going to get more interesting around here," he said before returning to his office.

Four blocks down, Ryouga stopped and leaned against a wall as she shook her head {Damn girlish hormones.} Clenching her fist, she closed her eyes {Damn Ranma. At least he can turn back into a boy whenever he wants.}

"Hey!"

Ryouga spun around to stare at Akane as she held out the book bag "You dropped this." Nodding silently, Ryouga retrieved the offering and stepped away from the wall, avoiding eye contact with the black-haired girl.. As they started to walk down the street Akane looked sideways; "What was that about?" When no response was forthcoming, she worked her way  up in front off Ryouga and stared at her "Come on, what was that about?"

Ryouga clenched her hand around her bag as Akane kept asking. "Mybodyisactingup," Ryouga muttered under her breath and quickly found the sidewalk more attractive then anything else.

"Huh?" Akane blinked as she went over the sentence in her head. "You mean your body found…."

"Yes." Ryouga said and started to dash off again. "See you at school!"

Akane looked up ahead and sighed as she found herself standing at the front gate off the school, with the usual brigade of would be boyfriends storming towards her.

Ranma landed on the wall and shook his in disbelief when he saw Akane beating the boys into the ground. "What's going on here?"

Stopping in her mad run, Ryouga leaned on a tree and shook her head. Looking over at the gate she spotted the fight and grinned as she saw Akane go though them like a knife though butter "She's a martial artist all right!"

"True, and yet she still has an air of gentleness around her like a lioness, wearily I have never seen such beauty before, but yours can compete with hers any day" Ryouga turned her head and saw a boy dressed in a kendo outfit next to her. A brokken bokken was stabbed into the ground and the boy was leaning on it. A single red rose was held between two fingers as he looked at Akane. Slowly his head turned to look at Ryouga "I am Tatewaki Kuno. And you are?"

Ryouga blinked her eyes and slowly bowed. "Ryouga Hibiki I'm starting here today."

"Well then fair Ryouga. Welcome to Furinkan High School." Standing up, Kuno tossed the rose though the air towards Akane. As she grabbed it, he stepped out from the tree and walked towards her "Truly they are such a boring lot. For there is only one person fit to date thee fair Akane Tendo, yet they still try to win, so that they can date with you. Akane Tendo I challenge you and if you win I will allow you to date with me!"

Ryouga pulled herself up from the ground. {How can this guy go from being sane to insane in one second?}

Ranma jumped down from the wall he was standing on. Landing next to Akane he cast a curious look between her and Kuno. "So who is this guy?"

Akane glanced at him and move into a offensive stance. "Don't interfere. You might get hurt!"

Ranma blinked andjust looked stared at Akane. "Me? Hurt?! Not in this lifetime." Ranma Smirking, he sSmirked and turned to walk into the main building. "If he wants to date an uncute violent…" *WHAM* Ranma winched as a fist smacked into his face and a brokken hit his head.

"Insolent cur how dare you talk like that to Akane Tendo!" Kuno stood up in his full height. "Low based dog I challenge you!" Leveling his brokken at Ranma, the eyes of the wannabe samurai almost gloved with anger. "What. Is. Your. Name." As Ranma opened his mouth Kuno slammed his brokken into the ground "Ah but is it not custom to give one own first. Very well I shall. I am the rising star of the kendo world referred to as the Blue Tthunder by my peers, age 17. Tatewaki Kuno" Introductions finished, Kuno made his first strike at Ranma. Although the pig-tailed boy was able to dodge the blow, both Ranma and Ryouga gaped as the seemingly wooden practice sword cut though solid stone with ease.

Akane shook her head and turned away in disgust. Spotting, Ryouga she waved her hand and strode over to her "Ryouga-chan, why were you in such a hurry this morning?"

Ryouga turned away from the fight and looked at Akane. "Remember I said my body was acting up?, Well, it 'liked' Dr. Tofu."

Akane looked at her. "It liked him."

"Yes liked him," Ryouga said as she hung her head.

Akane turned red in her face. "You mean liked as in liked!!"

""YES DAMMIT!" Ryouga's scream could be heard all over school.

"Fair maiden, do not fear for I, Tatewaki Kuno have come to comfort you," Kuno said as he glomped the black haired girl. Ryouga froze and slowly turned her head around as her hands twitched. Kuno was in for a world of pain when Ranma saved him by kicking him away from harm.

"Hey, our fight isn't over yet" Ranma yelled as he landed swiftly.

{He glomped me}

"How dare you cur," Kuno yelled back as he stood up in his full height.

{He glomped me}

"Come on can't yo…"

"Now what yo…"

Both Ranma and Kuno stopped fighting as they took in the sight of Ryouga. A red aura was visible to all. Ranma, having recently learned just how violent Ryouga became when truly angered, started to edge away. Kuno, seeming to have learned something similar, followed.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" What followed was a small war.

The teacher blinked as Akane Tendo walked into the class followed by a young boy with a pigtail. He was sporting several bruises and seemed to limp as he walked in. Right behind them came a young girl with a braid sporting a yellow black ribbon on the end and a similar color scheme bandanna around the head. A red light seemed to emanate from her body.

"You just had to clobber me as well didn't you" The boy with the pigtail muttered as he limped up to the desk and handed over a piece of paper.

The teacher ran his eyes over the paper before nodding "Class, I'd like to meet Ranma Saotome and Ryouga Hibiki. Both have just returned from China and will be joining us for the rest of the semester." Adjusting his glasses he shot a look at Ranma and Ryouga. "Ranma, go see the school nurse about you injuries." Ranma nodded and limped out of the classroom "Miss Hibiki, I understand that this is your first day but that is no excuse for being late. Go stand in the hall.  You too, Miss Tendo."

As the door closed behind them, Ryouga took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Just what were you doing?"

However peace didn't show itself. "He glomped me"

Akane blinked her eyes "And that justifies kicking them though the PE shed?"

Ryouga shrugged. "It was Ranma fault he was in the way. Besides, Kuno deserved it for glomping me."

Akane shook her head. "I still say you overreacted."

Ryouga glared back at her, snapping out a response. "Coming from someone who slammed a stone statue on someone's head for a simple comment about her body really means a lot to me." Ryouga said and turned to face her completely "And just why was half the school out to pound you, anyway?"

Akane seethed then she snapped her own head around. "Baka Kuno made a speech at the beginning of the year about how any who wanted to date me had to defeat me in honorable combat first."

Ryouga snorted., "You're joking right?"

"I'm afraid not," she said, shaking her head. Ever since the beginning of the school year they've attacked me every morning"

Ryouga glowed as she dropped the buckets. "What kind of a moron thinks beating up a girl will get her to fall in love with him?"

Akane blinked at the rapid mood change. "Kuno." Then she grinned. And if I saw right this morning, he may have a little crush on you." 

Ryouga stopped her scowling and turned shocked eyes back at Akane "You're joking right" She said in a weak voice while a green color flooded over her face.

At the moment a red and black blur turned around the corner and stormed over to them. "Get away from me!" Ranma stopped beside them and glared as Kuno stormed down the hall waving his brokken. "I never asked to be engaged to her!"

Kuno stopped and level his brokken at Ranma. "Silence cur, are you denying that you are hounding Akane Tendo by living in the same house as her?!" Kuno turned his head to look at Akane "Fear not, Akane Tendo! I shall smite this cur and free you from this wretched engagement so you may date with me freely!"

Akane gaped for several seconds before she realized that she was still in school and the other students might hear Kuno speech. Lifting her hands she opened her mouth, only to be overwhelmed with questions as the windows and doors behind her filled with students yelling question after question at her.

"Akane, you're engaged!"

"Why Akane, I thought you hated boys?"

"You cur!!"

Akane turned around to see Kuno pointing his brokken at Ranma, I shall fell you right here, and then Akane shall be free to date me" 

Kuno and Ranma's fight moved further down and the mass of students followed after them. The wave of them pushing both Ryouga and Akane with them, as the noise of the students died down a trembled and bruised teacher crawled out of the classroom "That's it, I'm transferring out off here"

Ryouga stood behind in the empty hallway and looked around "Now what?"

Much later Ranma, Ryouga and Akane walked home from school. Ranma looked up from the fence and shook his head "What is wrong with that moron" Turning his head he glared at Akane " And why is he after you anyway" Akane sighed and retold the reason for Kuno's and the school boys attacks. 

Ranma smirked "So that's why the joker attacked me. I wonder how he could have fallen for a tomboy like with no figuRk" Ranma pulled himself up from the ground and rubbed his cheek "What was that for?"

Akane seethed with unholy rage and ripped off a chunk of the wall "RAAANMAAAAA!!!"

Looking at the wall piece Ranma gulped and waved his hand "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that" Ranma turned around and breathed out in relief "All I meant was how could he fall in love with you? You'd think that after the sixth beating he would have learned to stay away from macho chicks and" *DOOOM* Ranma gulped as he felt the hot air from the battle aura around Akane.

Ryouga blinked her eyes and shook her head as Akane dealt out her divine punishment on the foolish mortal that had insulted her. "Baka's" 

Turning around the corner Ryouga found himself staring at Kasumi who was hanging up the laundry "Oh Ryouga-chan You're home early" Finishing up the last she smiled and lightly touched the younger girls arm "Since you're home so soon, we will have plenty of time to go shopping"

Ryouga stopped dead and dropped her book bag "Shopping" As far back as Ryouga could remember the only time she had ever done any shopping was only when she needed something desperately and only then it had been in hurry. Now she was being dragged out to shop by this, this… sweet, innocent, young… lady who smiled just like her mother and… Ryouga's resolve melted like snow in the Sahara. "Okay."

Kasumi lit up with another tooth-decaying sugar sweet smile and pulled out a shopping bag from pocket space "Shall we go? I've heard that there is a sale on bras today."   

Ryouga snapped back and glared at Kasumi as she walked past her "I'm not wearing a bra and that's final!" Turning around, she followed after Kasumi. "And no skirts, either." 

Somewhere on the coast of China, two young teens stood at a small harbor. One of them, a girl purple haired was wearing armor and was holding a pair of Bonboris. She gazed out over the ocean, a fierce look in her eyes.

The other, a boy standing almost a head over the other, was wearing a white robe and black Kung fu pants. Long black hair fell freely down his back and one could almost say he was handsome. But almost is the important word, as almost half of his face was, were covered by a pair of coke-bottle glasses. Said boy turned away from talking with a captain of a nearby ship.

Xian Pu The girl turned from glaring out over the ocean Captain Fa Su here, has agreed to take us to Japan.

The girl glared at the captain and then at the rest of the crew I refuse to travel with these people Mu Shu. I've seen more trustworthy people from the Musk."

Muo Shu lifted up his hand, The ghoul told us to stay together…    

Xian Pu scowled and hid her sword in pocket space I refuse to travel with you anymore. I will find my own way. Turning, she walked back down the harbor.

Shrugging the boy walked up the plank and turned to stare at the crew. I will be in my cabin, and as we have agreed I will pay you when we arrive. The captain nodded and made a small gesture to his men saying 'Wait till dark, take all his valuables, and dump the body in the sea., Then we feast on wine, women, and song.'

One more thing. The captain looked up see a couple of knifes slam into the wood around him. Anyone who enters my cabin or tries to attack me will find himself missing some body parts.

The captain turned to regard the beautiful outline of him in knives and gulped. Then he turned and made a new gesture signaling 'Head to Japan. Anyone who attacks our passenger, will no longer feel the need for women ever again.' The crew paled and stormed around the ship.

Inside the cabin Muo Shu locked the door and sat down on the single bed. Sighed wistfully, he gazed on the wall {Soon Ryouga, we shall meet you again}

Tbc.

AN: Sorry about the long delay. Extreme laziness and the discovery of more RPG games for my emulator kept me way to busy to write. Plus I had to settle in and get used to my new school. Free online time, eight hours a day, five days a week, Sweet. Plus my Regular pre reader went on a vacation. And getting tired of this chapter just sitting around I found some more pre readers.   


	4. Part 4

Disclaimer: See parts 1 – 2. 

Summary: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as a girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendos and Saotomes, hoping to find a cure for both her curses, or at least to be rid of the pig.

Warning: Kasumi starts to act OCC.

======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part IV

Goodnight, maybe I will be normal tomorrow?

======================================

Ryouga stood completely still. As far as she could see, she was in Hell. She was surrounded by girls, giggling girls. Sure, the clothes she had worn may not have looked that good on her. But to have the shopkeeper tell her to burn them, that was just too much. And now Kasumi wanted her to try on this feminine thing. Yes, Ryouga was holding a dress in her hands. It was pretty dress, but in her eyes it was the last step towards forgetting who she had been.

"I don't know, Kasumi…" 

Kasumi pushed her towards one of the changing rooms. As Ryouga stumbled into the booth, Kasumi instructed, "Now, try these on, and remember to try on the dress!" before handing Ryouga a rather large pile of clothes.

Closing the door behind her, she stared at the very large pile of clothes that Kasumi had given her. There was everything from t-shirts to pants. Thankfully, the only thing that was 100% feminine was the dress.

Closing her eyes and counting to ten, Ryouga took out the first t-shirt and looked at it. It wasn't that bad, a plain yellow one. The next one was black. She could see a few blue and green ones.

Shrugging out of the last set, Ryouga cast a venom filled glare at the article she had been wearing. She didn't know if Kasumi was trying to be funny or if she was just forgetting that she was really a boy. For some strange reason, she had a great desire to burn the Hello Kitty shirt that had been at the bottom of the pile. At least the pants had fit like she wanted them. Somehow, Kasumi seemed to know that a martial artist had to be able to move freely at all times. 

Picking up the dress, Ryouga turned it around and held it up in front of her. It was a rather nice deep shade of purple with dark blue birds on it. Putting it on, Ryouga buttoned up the front.

Turning her head, she shot a look at the girl staring back from the mirror. Somehow she couldn't get over the fact that it was really her standing there wearing a dress, even if it looked pretty on her. Slowly, she turned around and looked in the mirror again "Kasumi…"

Kasumi, standing outside the booth, was looking at some skirts when she heard Ryouga call her. "Yes Ryouga-chan?"

"What do you think?"

Putting down the skirt, Kasumi turned and opened the door and stepped in. She looked for a minute at Ryouga, before turning the girl around to look at herself in the mirror. Gripping the younger girls shoulder she looked over her head at the mirror "I think it looks good on you. What do you think Ryouga-chan?"

Ryouga looked into the mirror and smiled in a sad way. "It's nice, isn't it?" Then she started unbutton the dress. "But I'm just not ready to wear a dress yet…" Ryouga stopped unbuttoning the dress and looked up at Kasumi sheepishly. "Um, could you please turn around?"

"Why?" Kasumi looked at Ryouga, who gave her a surprised look back. "We're both girls, right?" Kasumi grinned as Ryouga turned beat red. Ryouga finished redressing in her standard outfit, consisting of the oversized yellow shirt and black pants. Kasumi grabbed her hand and pulled her out to pay for the clothes "Now are you ready to look for some underwear?"

"WHAT!!!!?"

Some of the other costumers, who hadn't been in Nerima often enough to know what a loony bin it really was, turned to stare the shop as it windows rattled from the air pressure alone.

Across Nerima, Ranma looked over the Koi-pond at Akane, who was beating the crap out of a straw dummy with a pigtail. {Great, could she be more open about her feelings?}

Akane looked over at Ranma out of the corners of her eyes. "What are you staring at, pervert?"

Ranma frowned and stood up. "Nothing important…"  

*WHAM*

"WHAT'S THAT SURPOSED TO MEAN!!?"

Ranma, stuck under the mallet, chose his next words carefully. "What was that for, you crazy tomboy?" Then again, an attack was said to be the best defense.

Akane shook with anger and pulled out an even larger mallet. "Ranma, take that back!"

Soun cried at the sight of his daughter and ingrate son-in-law arguing for the fourth time that evening. Genma chose that moment to move around some pieces on the shogi board. Soun stopped crying when a sudden thought hit him. "Nabiki, where's Kasumi? I haven't seen her since Ranma and Akane came home…" 

Nabiki looked up from the doorway leading out into the kitchen. Removing the apple from her mouth, she swallowed what remained within. "She left with Ryouga to do some shopping. They won't be home until later…"

Soun froze with terror "Then… who's cooking dinner tonight?"

Nabiki blinked "Well, I don't know how to and even if I could, I don't have time for it…" Nabiki grinned at the thought of the stack of photos of Ryouga waiting to be sold to a kendoist with a lot of money. 

"Nabiki-chan, Saotome-kun, we must not let Akane hear that Kasumi couldn't cook tonight…"

"Oh, Kasumi's not home tonight? Then I'll make something special for all of us tonight!" called a voice from the other room.  Soun and Nabiki groaned, as Akane appeared wearing an apron and holding a knife. 

Genma blinked and looked between the doomed faces of Soun and Nabiki and the happily humming Akane as she took out a couple of potatoes. "What's wrong, Tendo? You should be glad that you such a dutiful daughter!"

"I'll be at Megumi's." Nabiki announced as she slipped out of the door. Soun tried to make the same type of getaway, but was faced with Akane's battle aura.

"No one is going anywhere…"

Soun and Genma backed out of the kitchen and collapsed in terror. "What was that about, Tendo?"

Soun looked up with tears in his eyes. "Akane has… a small problem with cooking…"

"I DO NOT!!" Akane stomped out of the kitchen and glared at the elder martial artists covering before her on the floor. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight, and you will like it!"

Ryouga stared at the clothing Kasumi held out. "Look, I know you probably don't want to wear a normal bra, so how about a sports bra instead?"

Ryouga stared at the item in question before taking it "If I must…" Stepping into another changing booth, Ryouga pulled off her shirt and slowly put on the sports bra. 

"How does it fit?" Kasumi voiced from outside the booth. 

Ryouga sighed and opened the door. "It fits perfectly, now can we please go somewhere else?"

Kasumi giggled at the beat red look on Ryouga's face "Sure!" Turning around, she looked at the sales lady that had showed them where to find the sports bras "We'll take five of them." Kasumi mumbled to the saleslady while she went over the cost of the clothes in her head. "Ryouga-chan, do you have any more money on you?"

Poking her head out again, Ryouga shook her head. "Sorry Kasumi, but after this I'm completely broke."

Kasumi shrugged, then she looked at Ryouga going back into the booth. "Ryouga-chan, you may as well keep the sports bra on." At Ryouga's pain filled look, she smiled matronly. "You need to get used to wearing them anyway…"

Ryouga grumbled something as she ducked back into the booth and pulled the shirt back on again. Well, at least it wasn't that bad. She had been having a slight back problem when she moved too much lately. 

After paying for the clothes and leaving the store, Kasumi suddenly grabbed Ryouga's arm "Hey, that's the place Mother took me when I was younger." 

Looking up, Ryouga saw a restaurant. "Um, can we afford it? I spent all my money on clothes."

Kasumi looked at Ryouga before she pulled out a card. "I'm sure Nabiki won't mind if we borrow her credit card just this once…" 

At the same time, Ranma sat with his father and Mr. Tendo and stared at the dish in front of them. "Uh… Akane, is it supposed to be green?"

Looking up from the head of the table, Akane sneered at the pigtailed boy. "So the color's a little off. It's all about flavor anyway. Now eat!"

Shifting back, Ranma grabbed a bowl and filled it to the top. {Here goes} Stuffing a spoonful into his mouth, Ranma's face turned pale as tears formed in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Akane looked at the twitching form of a boy lying on the floor. "Can't even appreciate home cooking?" Snorting, Akane stood up and walked back into the kitchen "Just you wait, the next dish will be better…"

Genma slowly put his bowl down and grabbed his glass of water. "Growf!" [Pass the bamboo, Tendo] The panda looked pleadingly at the long-haired man across the table.

Soun looked between Genma and the green stuff. "At times like this, I really envy you, Saotome…" Both adults looked at the boy still twitching. "Looks like Ranma could use some help."

[Nah, the boy needed some training]

Ranma silently cursed as he felt the pain from whatever the smeg (editor's note: Huh-huh…. He said 'smeg'-JH) it was Akane had cooked. "Stupid Tomboy…"

Ryouga gasped as she took a bite "This is…"

Kasumi smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I just love the way they get the meat so tender and the sauce is just…" Kasumi trailed off as she took another bite.

Ryouga blinked. "You like western style food? But you seem so traditional…" 

Kasumi put down her fork and rested her head in her hands. "Father fell apart after mother's death. To give my sisters some stability, I took over as their mother…" 

Ryouga put down her own fork and knife and smiled sadly at Kasumi. "So, you had to give up your dreams to look after your family?"

Kasumi nodded "I love my sisters, but sometimes I just want to…" Kasumi stopped talking as she held a hand over her mouth, "Oh my, did I just say that?"   

Ryouga blinked again before picking up her fork. "So, do your sisters help you around the house?"

Kasumi shook her head "Oh my, no. They are far to busy to do that…"

Ryouga waved her fork as she looked at Kasumi. "Have you tried asking for their help before?"

Kasumi sighed deeply "Yes. Nabiki just doesn't want to do manual chores and Akane is a disaster when it comes to cooking…" At Ryouga's blank stare she shrugged. "She can do the laundry and cleaning well enough, but cooking, well… she could use some work in that area."

"She can't be that bad…" Ryouga looked at the older girl. "It's a not as if it's poison…" 

Kasumi grinned "No. But she just doesn't take the time to read the ingredients before adding them."   

Ryouga and Kasumi looked up as a waiter walked up. "I hope you enjoyed your dinner. Maybe the young ladies would like some dessert?" Placing a menu in front of them, he cleared off the empty plates. "I recommend the strawberry cake."

Ryouga, at a total loss as to how one should behave in a place like this, closed the menu before looking at Kasumi. "I'll just take the strawberry cake… what about you?"

Kasumi looked at Ryouga with a grin, "I'll have the same." Handing over the menu, she stood and picked up her handbag. "I'll be in the ladies room." Ryouga absently nodded as Kasumi walked off.

As the waiter left to get their desserts, Ryouga looked around the place. She couldn't see anyone she knew. But then again, she was still new to Nerima. {I wonder if I'll ever find a cure. But what if I don't?} Ryouga closed her eyes and held back the sob.

Still smiling, Kasumi came back to the table. "So tell me about your life, Ryouga."

Ryouga looked up, glad for the distraction. "Um… Well…" 

Kasumi and Ryouga ate their strawberry cakes, as Ryouga talked about her life before she 'ran into' Ranma. When she finished, Kasumi told her about her life.

Ryouga looked out the window as she unbraided her hair. "So this is where I start my new life? Well, at least till I find my cure…" Ryouga sighed as she stood and dug through the closet pulling out a long shirt. "Guess I better go to bed…" Pulling on the shirt, she turned to look at the small mirror Kasumi had given her when they got home from the restaurant.

Knocking on the door, Nabiki poked her head in. "Um Ryouga, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what is it Nabiki-san?"

Nabiki flinched at formal name Ryouga used. "Um… first, could you drop the san and secondly, here…" 

Ryouga grabbed the round thing Nabiki tossed at her. "What is it?"

Blushing, Nabiki looked around the room. "Well, you've seen how my father behaves right?" At Ryouga's nod, Nabiki stepped closer. "Well, for the last few years, I've been the one to provide the family with money and I did so by selling pictures of my sister to her admirers…"

"You WHAT?!" Ryouga looked at the film roll in her head. "Then this is pictures of Akane?"

"Well… not quite…" Nabiki mumbled as she stepped back again. "I figured that as long as you and Ranma were here that I could make a quick buck off of you and him by selling your pictures."

Ryouga trembled and slowly crushed the roll in her hands. "And how many did you sell of me?"  

"None…" Nabiki nearly yelled as Ryouga started to glow faintly. "I didn't sell any!"

Looking at Nabiki, Ryouga held up the remains of the film roll. "So, why did you tell me about it?"

Nabiki blushed again. "Kasumi asked me to tell you about it, before I screwed up and made you want, er… revenge." 

Ryouga sat down on the bed "Uh well…"

Leaning in closer Nabiki grinned. "Well, how did the date with Kasumi go?"

"It wasn't a date."

Nabiki grinned wider. "You really should ask my father for permission to date my sister before you go out to eat…"

Blushing and stuttering, Ryouga looked at Nabiki. "We… I… That is…"

"Relax, can't you take a joke?"

Ryouga grumbled as Nabiki laughed. "Well, I just wanted to say I was sorry."

Ryouga looked at Nabiki as she opened the door. "Nabiki, do you need the money so badly?" Stopping, Nabiki looked back into the room. "If you do, you can take pictures of me if you want. But no nude or suggestive ones, got it?"

"Who, me?" Nabiki grinned, as she backed out of the door.

Ryouga looked for a minute at the closed door before turning over. {Goodnight, everyone} Yawning, she closed her eyes. {Is this what it feels like to have a family? If it is, I wouldn't lose it for anything.}

TBC in: Week one: Enter Mousse.

AN: Another chapter done with. Now onto the next one after I get some sleep and finish designing my homepage. When I wrote that I hadn't even started on it, but now it's finished so go and check out my website ^_^ 

Editor's Note:  Sorry this took so long, folks.  My bad!  Don't lose faith in Demino, he's very talented! 


	5. Part 5

Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2. 

Summery: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. 

======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part V

Enter Mousse, Ryouga's Fiancé?

======================================

Ryouga yawned as she stared out the window, for once she wished that she was still able to get lost but now that only happened if she was in pig form and that had been quite a while ago. Not that she had any desire to become a walking dinner in the near future. Being a girl no matter how infuriating was better then a small defenceless little pig anytime. 

"Miss Hibiki!!" 

Ryouga blinked and looked away from the window to see the new teacher standing next to her desk  "Yes Sensei?" 

The teacher crossed her arms and glared at her "Maybe you could answer the question for us miss Hibiki?" 

Ryouga blushed as she realized that she had no idea what the class was studying at the time "Eh…" 

Slapping a hand over her head the teacher groaned, "Go stand in the hall young lady, maybe that will wake you up!" 

"Yes Sensei" 

"Hey Ryouga, glad you could join me" Ranma greeted as Ryouga stepped out of the door with a bucket of water. 

Ryouga shook her head as Ranma twirled his buckets on his index fingers "Keeps those things away from me" 

Ranma grinned and stepped closer "Why afraid of a little water, don't act like a little girl Ryouga" 

Ryouga opened her mouth to fire back a insult when the door slammed open behind her "Will you two shut up!!!" *Splash* The teacher blinked as a wave of water hit her the face, spluttering she pulled her green hair out of her eyes "Hey where'd Hibiki go and who are you?" 

Ranma-chan pulled the bucket off her face and grinned "Um bye" 

The teacher followed the red haired girl as she ran way, holding a bundle of wet clothes and a protesting pig in the other hand "Damn kids, Hey you're supposed to wear an uniform!!" 

****** 

Ranma-chan stopped running, as she reached the second field of Furinkan high school. Putting down Ryouga-pig, she twisted the cold water from her red pigtail and sighed, "Damn curse" 

"Bweee" Ryouga-pig nodded and shook the water from the black fur before settling down and staring at Ranma-chan "Bwe Bwe kweeeee" 

Ranma-chan turned to star at the piglet "And where do you want me to find hot water out here" She waved her hand around to emprise "Look, there's only an hour left before lunch break. Let's just stay out here until then" When no answer came Ranma-chan turned her head and saw Ryouga-pig fast asleep "Heh, good idea" 

Akane stared down at the sleeping Ranma-chan cudgelling Ryouga-pig in her arms. It was a true Kodak moment, to bad for everyone that instead of a camera, Akane was holding a kettle of hot water "Wake up Baka's!!" 

*SPLASH* 

"Ow hot, hot!!" Ranma screamed and jumped around before he stopped to stare at Akane "What you do that for you uncute…" Ranma stopped as he registered two things. One he was holding something, and two that something was soft. 

"Put me down!" 

Ranma's head snapped down to see Ryouga's face red from embarrassment and anger and then he spotted his left hand on Ryouga's "Uh" A small stream of blood started, as Ranma blushed more then Ryouga. 

"PERVERT!!" *WHAM* 

Akane glowed with fury as she turned to stare at a naked Ryouga sitting dazed on the ground "And you! What do you think you're doing walking around naked like that?" 

Ryouga looked up "What? Oh Akane, have you seen my clothes" The mallet appeared again and Ryouga cringed as she saw the look off pure anger in Akane's eyes "It was an accident, he didn't know what he was doing" 

Akane glared at the girl covering before her in the grass and felt her anger screaming to be unleashed on something or someone. Slowly her eyes lost the demonic glow as she forced herself to relax. Ryouga blinked as the mallet disappeared and Akane turned around and stomped off. 

"What was that about?" Ryouga mumbled out loud as she finally found the uniform Kasumi had brought for her. Staring balefully at the damp clothes in her hands, she dressed and settled back to enjoy the sun "Man, sometimes I wonder if my life would be this messed up if I hadn't gone after Ranma at all?" 

Downtown, Ranma made a perfect landing right into the canal "Stupid tomboy" Muttered the now red hair girl as she surfaced. 

******** 

Mousse stared at the sign on the wall before he nodded and took off his glasses "You… where can I find Ryouga Hibiki?" Mousse snapped as he grabbed a nearby student and pulled him close. 

Hiroshi gasped as this lunatic with the large glasses grabbed his shirt "I don't know, ask Ranma or Akane" 

Mousse narrowed his eyes and looked away "And where can I find them?" 

Hiroshi waved his arm at Akane who was sitting under a tree eating lunch with her friends "That's Akane over there" 

"Thank you" Hiroshi bit the dirt as the grip on his shirt loosened and he legs gave out. Mousse snorted in disgust and walked away "Akane?" 

"Yes?" Akane looked up and stopped eating when she spotted Mousse staring back at her "Who are you?" Running her eyes over the way this boy stood she could tell that he was a very competent martial artist, properly someone wanting to date her, well he could forget all about that. 

Mousse looked at her for a while before he pulled out a photo "I'm looking for this girl, Ryouga Hibiki. I was told you had seen her" Lowering the photo for Akane to see he took the time to study the girl before him. Clearly not in the area of most Amazons back home, but still a match for several of the younger ones. 

Akane put her bento box down and shot a look at Mousse "Sure I have, she lives at my house" Akane blinked as Mousse dropped the photo on the ground with a goofy look on his face "What? What did I say?" Akane didn't know if she should be insulted that he hadn't challenged her, or that he was looking for someone else. 

Mousse grinned widely "Akane… um I didn't get you last name" 

"I'm Akane Tendo," The black haired girl said as she bowed. 

Mousse nodded and bowed back "I'm Mousse from the Joketsuzoku tribe" Looking back up he pulled out a pair of glasses and straighten up "I'm Ryouga Hibiki's fiancé"

***************

Ryouga looked up from her own bento box and looked around the schoolyard. She was sitting alone on a bench still she liked it that way. She was able to relax and forget the problems with her two curses and just live in the now. Still she had trouble with that, for some reason she had just felt a chill a little while ago. Like something was going to happen.

Standing up she gulped down the last of her food and set out to find the reason for her chill, plus she had a craving for some sweets. Passing into the school cafeteria, she was surprised at quiet it was. The last school cafeteria she had seen had been a war-zone. Then again it was an all boys school back then. Picking up a rice cake and paying for it, she walked back outside to eat it.

"My bandanna Goddess" Kuno roared as he ran out off the cafeteria dresses in his kendo outfit.  

Ryouga dropped the rice cake and tensed as a pair of arms grabbed her around the waist and she felt him rub his head in her hair "Kuno"

"Yes my love?" Kuno mumbled as he leaned down for a kiss.

"GET LOST!!" Several students winced as Kuno went for a trip over the school building. Ryouga slowly lowered her arm and turned to look at her rice cake on the ground. Instead she found held towards her by someone wearing a white robe. Looking up she found herself staring a pair of soft brown eyes, a pair of glasses was held in the other hand. "Mousse?"  

Smiling, Mousse put the rice cake back into her hand and put on his glasses "It's good to see you too, Arien" Slowly he stepped closer and looked down at the one he had looked for, for so long "Arien, will you return to Joketsuzoku with me?" 

Ryouga stared at Mousse as she slowly felt the rice cake fall from her hands Mu Shu… I "

****************

TBC: In China it happened.

AN: Whahahahaha. Well, how is that for a cliffhanger. I finally updated this story. I'm sorry for all you out there who had to wait for so long. And then I present a chapter that is shorter then the others. But I couldn't help myself, I had to cut it short right there. A reviewer pointed out in an e-mail that Ryouga is too girlish for someone who has only been a girl for a few weeks or so. Look for the next chapter "In China it happened" for answers to that question and just how Ryouga has become engaged to Mousse In the first place.

Dak.  


	6. Part 6

Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2. 

Summary: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's, hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. The Chinese Amazon Mousse has shown up, and declared that he and Ryouga are engaged.

======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part VI

In China It Happened Part I

======================================

Ryouga blinked her eyes and felt the rice cracker fall from her hands. Here was someone that she thought she would never see again. Someone she had actually thought would… rapidly, Ryouga forced her mind away from the memories and focused on the now. "Mousse, you… How?" Memories of standing in a clearing and feeling the gentle hold on her shoulders as…

Mousse stared into her soft hazel green eyes and smiled gently, "You have no idea how long it took me to find you." Around them, most of the students had gone silent. Even Akane was staring at the scene with an unbelieving look on her face. Slowly, Mousse wrapped his arms around Ryouga and tilted his head to rest on top of hers. The crowd faded away as flowers started blooming in the background.  Somewhere, someone started to play a slow and very romantic tune.  My beloved Fire… Mousse mumbled as he titled Ryouga's head up.

"HOLD IT!!" 

The flowers vanished and the sound of a violin breaking could be heard. Mousse and Ryouga turned to the right and stared at a very green-faced Akane Tendo pointing a finger at them "Ryouga… What… That's it! We need to talk…" Mousse blinked his eyes as Akane grabbed them both and dragged them away from the others. "You two better have a good explanation for this!" Life returned to the schoolyard as the trio vanished from it.

Dropping the two onto the ground, Akane turned and stared at them. "Okay… Mousse, Ryouga, start talking. What was that all about?" Akane crossed her arms as she sat down. Turning to Ryouga, she shot a glare at her. "Does he know about, you know what?"

Mousse calmly removed his glasses and started wiping them. "Of course I know. She fell into the Heitouenniichuan at Jusenkyo and was later dropped into a pot of boiling water from the Nyanniichuan." Looking at the way Akane blinked at him, he sighed "I know she was a boy once, but it doesn't matter to me."  

Ryouga blushed and looked away from them. She had hoped that this moment would never come, but now it had, and there was no way out; she had to tell someone what had happened back in China. "Akane-san, do you want to know what happened in China, after I had fallen in the spring?" At Akane's nod, she grimaced. "It all started the day after the incident at Jusenkyo…" Ryouga's eyes got a far away look in them.

+++++++++++Flashback+++++++++++

"Damn you world!" A loud crash followed the scream as a tree was destroyed by a clenched fist. At the end of the arm to which the fist was attached, a black haired girl with a gray headband snarled. Glowing with an aura of pure anger, she looked to the left and slammed her fist into yet another tree. Feeling the bark crumble from it gave her a short feeling of happiness.

Groaning, the tree toppled over and tore down through the branches of a few other trees. Curing into a ball in the center of the destruction, Ryouga began to cry. It wasn't fair, why did it have to be him? Why did the world have it in for him? Couldn't it just leave him alone? What had he done to deserve this?   

Standing up, he snarled through his tears and lashed out again. Hammering a hand through one of the fallen trees. As the tree split in half, he ripped up one half of it and tossed it through the air "ARRRRRGGGGGGGGG" The ground shook as his fist implanted into it. A cloud of dust rose up and coved the area.

The he tore out through it and continued to run away. He had been running since he woke up, trying to wake up from this nightmare. All he had to do was wake up and continue his quest for Ranma. He would find him and beat him. Pushing through a bush he stepped out into a large clearing. 

Stopping, he reached up a hand towards his head. Feeling each of the cuts and bruises that were starting to form from running through a forest with closed eyes. What unnerved him most was the feeling he had gotten each time a branch or bush had hit him in the chest. He was a guy. Guys didn't have breasts.

His eyes began to tear up as he looked down at the two mounds straining the stained black T-shirt. Taking a step forward, he grumbled as the fabric moved over them in a way it shouldn't have. Stopping, he looked up from his body to a large boulder near the other end of the clearing. "I'll wake up! It has to be a dream, it has to!" Crouching and ignoring the feelings going through his body, he stormed forward and ran straight into the boulder.  Standing still for a second, he suddenly stepped back and grimaced "That hurt!" Looking even more miserable then ever, he closed his eyes. "It's not a dream…" Slowly, he fell backwards onto the ground as darkness filled his vision.

Who is she?

I don't know. She's not from around here. You think she's from the Musk?"

Ryouga opened her eyes and stared up into the air. Everything was fading in and out of darkness. Suddenly, what looked like a green blur popped up in his field of vision. Damn, his body hurt all over. Falling back down, his eyes closed again as he slipped back into unconsciousness. 

Quick, grab her legs, maybe the elder can tell us who she is.

**************

The world blurred into place, Ryouga opened his eyes. A lone lamp dangled in the air over him, strings with colored glass pearls and other decorations moved in the faint breeze casting light around the room. Focusing more on his surroundings, Ryouga noticed the blanket lying on him, and the sound of feet moving across the floor. 

Looking around he spotted a few decorations and drawings hanging on the wall. Lifting an arm to move the blanket, Ryouga grimaced as a sharp pain went through it. Moving the thick fabric completely aside, Ryouga lie for a short while and simply looked up at the ceiling of the room. After the pain from the movement went away, he rolled over and placed one foot onto the floor winching in pain, as several sore areas made themselves known to him.

It took him a full five minutes to make it over to the door, mostly due to the pain shooting through him. Reaching the blessed hole in the wall, he pulled the pearl covered strings aside and looked into the next room. Three girls, two a little younger then him and someone his own age, were standing in the center of the room going through a simple kata. 

Xian Puu how many times do I have to tell you not to practice indoors? A voice barked from the other side of the room. Slowly, an old lady hanging onto the side of a staff jumped into view. She stared at the elder girl with the long purple hair as she rapped her staff on the girl's heads. You're giving Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung bad ideas. Pointing her staff on the door she grinned. And you girl, don't stand there, come out here. It's rude to spy on other people.

Ryouga gulped as the 3 girls spun around to stare at him. Slowly slipping out into the light of the room, he ducked at the dark glare the purple haired girl shot him, while the other two had a look of curiosity. The old lade tapped her staff on the ground and looked him up and down, judging him.  Moving a hand up to scratch his head in embarrassment, he flinched when he felt the longer hair he had now. 

The old lady chuckled and jumped closer "I'm Cologne, an elder of the Joketsuzoku. So, do you have a name?" The look in Cologne's eyes was full of barely hidden laughter as she regarded Ryouga from the top of her staff.  

Taking a step back, Ryouga bowed. "Ryouga Hibiki" Standing up, he looked down at the elder. "Thank you for helping me."

Cologne looked up at him "You're welcome" Jumping over to a small table she looked back at him. "Will you join me for a cup of tea?" Turning her gaze to Shampoo, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, she added "Go practice outside, I want to talk with this one alone." The 3 girls grumbled as the left the room. Picking up a teacup, Cologne tapped a finger on the table. "So Ryouga, care to tell me what happened at Jusenkyo?"

Ryouga gulped and looked at her "Hell! I was cast into Hell there!" Sitting down on the other side of the table he looked down at his hands. "I was looking for my enemy Ranma, when my hunt for him brought me to Jusenkyo." Ryouga eyes took on a far away look as he told his tale.

Cologne looked up from her empty cup and stared at the boy. "So you fell into the spring of downed pig and was later tossed into a pot of hot water from the spring of drowned girl?" Putting her cup down she grinned "Well, its been rare, but I have heard about something like this before." Lifting her staff she looked at him "200 years ago, a young warrior called Ling-Lung went to Jusenkyo to train, while there she fell into the spring of drowned monkey." Cologne seemed to be laughing on the inside "At the time, the guide was gone, so Ling-Lung waited for him in the guides hut. As the night came, she got hungry and began to heat some water to cook with. As the water had begun to heat up the guide returned. Opening the door he freaked at the sight of a monkey inside his home. As he went to chase her out, Ling-Lung dropped the water she had been boiling over them both. When the steam vanished, two young boys were standing in the room."

Ryouga head banged onto the table. "Why couldn't it have been water from _that_ spring the old moron used?" Closing his eyes, he felt like killing a certain old martial artist and using his panda form for wall decoration. "I'll kill him…" Mumbling in a voice full of death, Ryouga decided to send Genma to the nearest hospital when he found him.

Cologne stared down at him and hummed. "Stay here for a while, I'll check the books we have on Jusenkyo for answers." Patting Ryouga's arm she smiled "It could have been worse. At least you other form is human, think about what it would have been like to have two animal curses…" Lifting a hand she looked at him.

Ryouga eyes went small at the words and the sound of wood breaking was heard as his hand clamped down hard, through the table with ease. Lifting his head, he looked slightly green as he thought about it. "I need a moment to think…"

Nodding, Cologne jumped out the door "I'll send someone over with something for you to eat."       

Ryouga stared at the door as it closed behind the elder. Lifting a hand, he stared at it and grumbled. "Just great, my parents are gonna freak." Lifting his head, Ryouga tapped his finger on the table "I gotta find something to do, something to distract me…" Staring around the room didn't help much; the only thing that was worth anything of interest was his backpack leaning against the wall. Jumping up, Ryouga almost tore the backpack open as he rummaged through the contents.

Ryouga looked up from his Lupin III manga when Shampoo entered the hut holding a takeout box. Closing the manga, he followed Shampoo as she put a tablecloth down, and pulled out three bowls of and a teakettle. Having finished setting the table, Shampoo sat down at the table and stared directly at him. Blushing, Ryouga looked away "Um… um…. Um…" Ryouga mumbled as he thought of something to say. 

Shampoo yawned as she stared at the stuttering boy who was now a girl. Shampoo shook her head, and looked at the small book that Ryouga had dropped near the edge of the table. Picking it up, she looked through and dropped a second later when she noticed that it was in Japanese. Wanting something, anything to do she looked again at Ryouga. "Nihao, Shampoo" 

Ryouga stared as the girl spoke about Shampoo and pointed at herself. Lifting an eye brown he shook his head "Sorry don't have any…" It was true, he had used the last weeks ago, and with his luck in finding a supermarket it would be very long time before he saw another bottle again.

Shampoo stared at Ryouga as he brushed off her introduction. Lifting her hand, she pointed at herself "Shampoo, Shampoo**"**

Ryouga dropped his hand onto the table and glared at the girl "I told you, I don't have any!"

"SHAMPOO!!"

"I DON'T HAVE ANY!!"

"NO, SHAMPOO!!!"

"LOOK I DON*T HAVE ANY!!!"

It would have become a very messy situation had Cologne not chosen that very moment to enter through the door. Staring at the two glaring teens, both gripping the sides of the table. "Children, what is the problem?" She eyed the empty bottle of herbal shampoo in Ryouga's hand "And why are you waving around a bottle of shampoo?"

Shampoo dropped her hold on the table and stared at her great grandmother The outsider has insulted me. He claims that I sound like a hair care product, I demand revenge!! Crossing her arms, she shot death glares across the table. It would only be a small while before the outsider was eating dirt beneath her foot. {That should teach her a lesson about insulting the soon to be champion of this village…} 

Cologne blinked, as Shampoo began giggling, "Yes, so you say that Ryouga here insulted you. How?" twirling her staff she sighed, why was it that these young folks were so difficult, why in her young days things were far more different. Xian Puu, when you said your name in Japanese how did it sound?      

Shampoo looked down at her great grandmother "Shampoo?" Looking at the bottle in Ryouga's hands, she picked it from him and ran her finger over the label on the side "Sham-Poo" Dropping it she grabbed her head I sound like a hair care product in Japanese, I don't believe it… Shampoo sat frozen on the spot not staring at anything.

Ryouga stared back and fourth between the two amazons. "Uh, what's wrong?" Reclaiming his empty bottle of Shampoo, Ryouga dropped it back into his backpack. One never knew if it might come in handy. Looking back at Cologne, he sat down at the table "So did you find anything that could help me?"

Cologne looked up at him as she gulped down her ramen. Putting down her chopsticks she pulled out a book "This is the dairy of Ling-Lung, you should read and try to find some answers in it. She left it behind before she ran away from the village. As for your curses, I don't know. We've never had a reason to cure Jusenkyo curses before, you see we use Jusenkyo as a punishment."  

Ryouga looked down at the small woman "You mean, I may be stuck like this forever?" Dropping his chopsticks Ryouga froze as he grabbed the side of the table "I can't… I gotta find a way… There must be a way." A green glow formed around Ryouga as he mumbled to himself "Stupid Ranma, lucky bastard only stuck half the time. I'm gonna kill that old fathead…"  

It wasn't until Cologne whapped him on the top of his head that he snapped out of it. "Listen boy, there is a cure to everything. It will take some time, but I'm sure we'll find something." Cologne snapped as she pointed at Ryouga's bowl. "You must learn to control your emotions and not let them guide you around." 

Nodding, Ryouga picked up the bowl and began to eat again.  He was sure it was a nice dish, but he just couldn't think of anything else but the fact that there might not be a cure. Putting down his empty bowl, he looked down at Cologne. "How come you speak Japanese so well?" He was truly confused. It hadn't been fun to cross through China only knowing the most basic words and sentences in Mandarin and Cantonese

Cologne grinned as she hopped up on her staff "I haven't lived 300 years for nothing." Turning to face Shampoo, she nodded Shampoo, show our guest to one of the rooms. I'll be waiting for you at the main hut. I want to hear about your progress Pogoing out of the room, she crackled in a strange way {Finally, something new around here.} 

Both teens sweatdropped and coughed at the cackle. Looking at one another, Ryouga smiled nervously as the amazon girl collected the bowls "Shampoo, right?" As the girl nodded, he grinned. "I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to… Well you know" Ryouga mumbled as he blushed at the very innocent stare Shampoo were giving him.  

Shampoo shrugged and stood up "Is okay, Shampoo… sorry" Stopping she looked at Ryouga I don't know that much Japanese.  Don't see why I should learn. It's not like I'm going to go to Japan Switching to the mandarin dialect used in the village, she looked at the blank stare Ryouga gave her. "Come with Shampoo"

Ryouga looked around the room they entered. When he had gotten up, he hadn't done that much looking around. It was pleasant and very homey for a guestroom. It clearly outdid the one back at his house. Thinking about the house he sighed. It had been a long time since he had last been home, then again it was not as if there were others there. Only his pet dog Shirokuro, and she was used to being alone most of the time anyway.   

Shampoo looked as Ryouga sat down on the bed and looked at the book her great grandmother had given her. Turning around, she looked back over her shoulder "Shampoo bring Mousse. He speak better" Leaving the room, the decorative cloth functioning as a door fell into place and the room became quiet.

Ryouga dropped back down onto the bed and opened the book. Looking across the pages he grimace "Hey. I can't read this kind of Mandarin…" Looking around as no one answered, he dropped the book onto a small table next to the bed. Lying on his back, he studied the ceiling as the lamp filled the room with a soft glow. Standing up, he put out the lamp and dropped onto the bed. A soft breathing filled the room as Ryouga fell asleep.

******************

TBC In: In China It Happened part II

An. Remember to review. I feed on reviews. More questions will be answered in the next part of In China It happened. Also check out my homepage I share with Gyzzmo 

Until then,

Dak.

Editor's Note: What a surprise… its late again and all my fault to boot. Sorry guys, but the draft got lost somewhere between Dak's computer and my email inbox… I probably accidentally deleted the email. Ah well, hope you enjoyed!

Gyzzmo


	7. Part 7

Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2. 

Summery: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. The Chinese Amazon Mousse has show up, and declared that he and Ryouga are engaged. Ryouga is currently telling Akane Tendo how she and Mousse met back in China and wound up getting engaged. 

======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part VII

In China it happened part II

======================================

Ryouga groaned as he woke up, normally it would haven't have been a problem, but the way he lay, when he woke up, made it very clear that he still had a female body. Rolling over and staring up into the ceiling, gave him a few minutes to gather his thoughts and an attempt to try and figure out how to take a bath without dying from severe blood loss. Of course, a part of him didn't want to get up, and face the realities of the hell his life had become in the last two days.  In the end, it was decided for him if he wanted to get out of bed or not. It was a really simple thing that determined it in the end as well. It is not that easy to sleep, when your room is invaded by two young girls, wanting to see the first outsider in their village in the last sixteen years. Plus, he really wanted to know where that music he kept on hearing was coming from.

Sitting on the end of the bed, a girl with dark pink hair waved a hand at him when she noticed him looking. Hiya, my name is Ling-Ling? What's your name? Ryouga cringed at the very happy notes in her voice, plus the way she seemed to be on a sugar buzz was also very disturbing to him. 

A scraping sound followed shortly after the pink haired girl had introduced herself and a girl looking very much like her popped up over the edge of the bed, only instead of the same hair color as the other. She had a strange green one. Looking at Ryouga with curious eyes at first, she turned and stared at her sister. Nee Ling-Ling, you should have told me the outsider was awake. I wanted to talk with her as well.

Lin-Ling turned to face her sister and shot a look at the green haired girl. I did Lung-Lung, you were to busy playing the flute to notice Turning back o face Ryouga she looked at him with wide curious eyes. "You outsider yes. Tell Ling-Ling about outsiders!" Her words took on a commanding tone as she spoke in a very bad and heavily accented Japanese. 

Lung-Lung nodded as she clapped her hands together. "Outsiders strong? Lung-Lung want strong husband." A distant look entered her eyes as she drifted of into a dream world of her and her ideal husband. "Tell Lung-Lung now."

Ling-Ling, Lung-Lung. Cologne barked from the top of her staff as she popped up at the end of the bed. Give our guest a chance to get up before you ask any questions. Cologne stared after the two girls as they scrambled out of the room. Kids these days. No manners at all. Why I remember back in my days 

Ryouga grumbled loudly and dragged the blanket up over his head. "Tell me I'm still dreaming and this is all a bad dream." He never did get a chance to finish his complaints as the blankets was roughly pulled away from him and a pair oaf pants and a shirt was dumped on him. "Hey watch it, what was that for?" Not getting any answer, Ryouga settled for glaring as he noticed the old lady pogoing out of the room.

As he sat up, he looked down at what the old lady had dumped on him. A blue shirt like the one those two Chinese Girls had worn greeted him, thankfully there was no heart sewn onto them, blue with a wide white edge around the bottom, the white edge also ran up where the shirt was clapped together. The pants had the same blue color, but had no white edge on them; instead they had a thin string sewn into the fabric to help wrap them around them around the bottom of the legs. Standing up, he dropped the clothes onto the bed and turned to pick up his own clothes, only they were missing from the floor. Feeling a panic growing as he failed to find them even as he looked under the bed, he turned to face the clothes he had dumped on the bed. 

Cologne looked up from her teacup and gave a rare smile towards the first guest they had had in twenty years. It really wasn't fait to the boy, but she had someone take his clothes off to be washed. It wouldn't look good on the Amazon's if a guest were seen running in filthy clothes and smelling like something had rolled over and died. As the boy, well she could hardly call him a boy with that body sat down across her at the table, she tapped her staff on the table to get him to look up. "Boy, after breakfast. Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung will show you to the bathhouse. But I highly doubt you want to use the men's bath hmmm? Unless you want to give them a free view." At the very red blushing face of Ryouga. Cologne nearly began to laugh at him. "Don't worry, the house is empty this of the day. You'll have the place to yourself."

***************

Ryouga grumbled as he lifted the water bucket over his head. If there was one thing he couldn't handle, it was smart mouthed people. And Cologne, friendly as she was, she was really starting to bug him. Tipping the bucket forward, he gave a loud scream as he remembered just what happened when he was exposed to cold water. "Bweeeeeeee." One soaked little black piglet cried out loudly as it cursed whatever god or goddess was responsible for putting him through this. 

**************

Ryouga stared at the tree he was standing under. The elder Cologne had told him to wait under the tree for her to return. Taking the time that he had, he ran a hand through the long hair. Feeling every stand of it, he pressed down the urge to scream at the gods. Instead he had filed it all away under the label "Things to kill the Panda-man for." He still felt a lot of anger at Ranma for getting him cursed to turn into a pig. But the panda, oh, he was responsible for the complete loss of his manhood. When he found him again, well, next time he met his mother, she would get a nice real panda fur coat. Mentally feeling the panda-man's neck breaking under his fingers. Ryouga mouth moved up into a rare smile. 

"Ah Ryouga, good to see you are still here."

Turning, Ryouga's smile vanished. "Elder Cologne" It was indeed the elder on her strange staff, staring at him with that nerve wrecking glare she always had. Standing behind her, a boy around his own age stare at the tree with a cold look in his eyes. At his puzzled look Cologne looked over her shoulder and grimaced at the sight. 

Something like that was just normal for that guy, still to do it in front off an outsider, she would have to have a small talk with her youngest great granddaughter's love sick puppy later. "Child, I understand that you have some trouble reading the book?" Ignoring the embarrassed look that flushed over the pretty face before her, she continued. "I have brought with me a member of out tribe. Mousse has studied Japanese for the last few years and should be more the able to help you translate that book." Turning to leave, Cologne looked over her shoulder. "I'm still looking through out books for the effects of Jusenkyo curses and how to remove them. If there's anything you need, ask Mousse for it."

Looking down at the book, Ryouga nodded slowly. It wasn't his style to admit a weakness, and to show that you were ignorant were just as great a shame to him. But if the book could tell him something about regaining his proper form, then he would do whatever it took. As the sound of Cologne pogoing moved away from him, he lifted his head and studied the young man standing before him. "H… Hi." {Damn shyness, now he properly thinks I'm a complete moron}

Mousse blinked and looked away from the tree as the voice came from his left and not from the one in front of him. Pulling out a pair of glasses he dreaded what he was going to see, but he could already guess it. Feeling a large sweat drop run down the side of his face, he felt like chopping down the tree. {Damn my lousy vision to the tenth hell.} Dreading the look of laughter he would see on the outsiders face, he turned to glare at him, and then his glare melted away into pure confusion. That was no man or boy sitting in front of him, no man had those things on their chest, well unless they were severe overweight. Trailing upwards, he stared right into a pair of hazel green eyes filled with fear and a hint of anger. "What the? Did I miss something, the old ghoul said you were a guy." 

Ryouga eyes flashed with anger as he stood up. "I'm a guy damn it." Completely unaware of how her chest moved as he had nearly jumped up with the speed he had moved. "It's all that stupid panda's fault. When I get my hand's on him I'll…" Whatever he wanted to say next was cut off when he felt a finger poke his left breast.

Mousse gave a dark look at the girl as he jammed out a finger to point at her chest. "You call yourself a guy, with a chest like that?"  When the girl stopped screaming and instead leveled a death glare at him. He blinked confused, until he followed her dark look as she stared at his arm. Bingo, he hadn't just pointed her, he had apparently jabbed his finger to close her breast, as it was being lightly pushed in by it. The same feeling that came over him, when Shampoo had that look rose up in him, but twice as strong as normally. As he looked back up, a blood red aura had formed around the girl and her eyes were beginning to have the same color. "

"DIEEEEEEEEE!!"

Shampoo looked up as a loud scream of pain reached her ears. It had sounded strangely like Mousse for a second. But, naa it couldn't be him. She was the only one in the village who would beat him up.    

**************

It was getting dark outside when Mousse rejoined the world of the living. Still lying on the dirt where he had fallen after the first punch. He dimly gritted his teeth when he felt the swelling eye and the bruised rips. Shampoo was bad when it came to beating him, but this girl. She was a monster. What else could he say about someone whose punches felt like his beloved's bonbori did when it hit. Still, maybe it had been deserved, he had poked an outsider girl's chest, but it had been an accident.

A shadow moved in over him and placed a cold cloth on his forehead, and then it moved back and seemed to stay at the edge of his vision. Rolling over, he noticed the girl staring at him. Her eyes still held a lot of anger. But at least she was hitting him. Her long hair played in a soft wind as it swept by briefly and Mousse stared with big eyes at the sight of what to him looked like something he had only heard about in legends. Then she turned her head away and mumbled something he couldn't hear.   

On the other side of him, he heard a low chuckle. Turning around he saw the old ghoul sitting on her staff. Her eyes were filled with barely hidden laughter. "Well Mousse, you sure know how to make an entrance don't you." Tapping a few spots on his head, she grinned again. "That should take care of your headache." Motioning for him to sit up, she looked at them. "Mousse, Once again I want you to meet Ryouga Hibiki. What he told you was true, about two days ago he had a small accident at Jusenkyo." Producing a bucket from nowhere, she jumped up and dumped it over Ryouga's head. 

Mousse eyes became small dots as the longhaired girl's clothes crumbled to the ground. They became even smaller as a small pigs head popped out from inside the shirt. Giving a long series of squeals at the elder as it dragged itself free from the wet clothes, it completely ignored Mousse. Reaching out a hand, Mousse picked up the pig by the small tail and held it out in front of him. The black piglet grunted and squealed loudly as it tried to reach his hand in order to bite him. "Wha…"

Cologne nodded and took the pig from Mousse hand. Pulling out a kettle, she shot a look at the pig, before she pulled it and the wet clothes around to the back of the tree. Mousse followed them with his eyes, and grimace as he heard a loud yelp of pain, and then the girl yelling at the elder. He could clearly make out the words. "Ahhh, hot water, not boiling." A second later, Cologne popped out from behind the tree with a very red faced girl behind her.  

Sitting down, the girl looked at the ground with a face the same color of a strawberry. Cologne still looked like someone had let her in on a grand cosmic joke. Looking from one to the other, she nodded her head. "Well. Now that we all seem to be getting along better." Turning to Mousse, she picked up the diary from the ground, and tossed it at him. "Mousse. For the next few days, I want you to translate this book for Ryouga. Meanwhile, I'll be in the main hut. I have to study the books we have on Jusenkyo. We haven't had a case off a cursed person in over fifty years. I need to remind myself off the cure." 

Ryouga and Mousse looked at one another as Cologne hopped off on her stick. Both had a look that told them, that they would be happy if the other person was very, very far away. 

**************

The next two days passed slowly at first, but after a short and frost filled period, the anger they felt slowly faded away. Ryouga didn't glow whenever he looked at Mousse. Instead, he began to respond to the bespectacled boy in a calm, yet still indifferent voice. One could say, that the lost boy was beginning enjoying having a constant company for a change. Having spent most of his time alone on the road. But even that couldn't explain the new feelings Ryouga was starting to feel, he found himself wanting to sit and listen when his forced companion read out loud from the book. He would never admit it, but he was starting to warm up to the half blind boy and saw him as a friend.

Mousse found the time he was forced to spend with Ryouga to be a warm welcome from the otherwise down grading jobs he would be doing for his beloved Shampoo instead. Reading out loud from a old diary to some freak outsider was boring, even if he looked pretty good with that outfit he was wearing today, but it was clearly better then washing the entire laundry pile, that Shampoo's family produced everyday, he also got away from working with the other men in the large community kitchen, preparing the food for the guards and patrols. But he still couldn't get away from his chores at home, meaning he only had one to two hours a day with Ryouga, and while he had to read out from the book. He couldn't do it when Shampoo insisted on training her martial arts nearby. Well she did, until Cologne dragged her away from them.

Time passed slowly, and Mousse began to tell Ryouga about other things then the stuff in the book. They started with the general role switch of the genders in the village and the entire tribe, then they moved onto the different styles of martial arts in the village. Ending with a small sparing match between them for fun, trying to find who had the superior style, Mousse's hidden weapons against the mixed style Ryouga used. Ryouga barely won the match, well he only won it, because Mousse lost his glasses in the middle of the fight from a well-aimed kick, and finally when he became distracted by the arrival of Shampoo and Cologne, leaving him open for an umbrella to the top of his head. While remained completely in control of her emotions, Cologne had been impressed with the use of an Umbrella in combat, and had expressed a shocked look, when she felt the weight off it. 

Ryouga had been told by Cologne about the great history of the amazons, from their rise, to the scattered village of today. From a central, and very large town near the mountains floor of the western mountain range, they had been forced to break up into smaller villages after the people's army had began to look at the valley of Jusenkyo. There had been other major factors in the valley, but they had also devised ways to avoid getting wiped out by the new, and very nervous rulers of China and their vast army. A tribe called the Musk; well the kingdom of the Musk as they had insisted on being called, had vanished up into the mountains when the first soldiers had sat foot in the valley, looking for the rumored fractions, or powers working against the People's Republic of China.

**************

It was on the fifth day when Ryouga awoke that he noticed something different, for once, Mousse wasn't screaming at him for oversleeping and wasting their time. The smart mouthed elder was nowhere to seen either. Stepping out of the bed and running a hand across his eyes, Ryouga pulled the door curtain to the side, and looked into the main room of the guest hut to see if anyone was in there. Empty, besides the usual bundle of clothes that he had been able to borrow from an Amazon, the table he had sitting at with Mousse a few times, listing to Shampoo boost about her skills as a warrior or gotten proper training in how to handle his, problem from Cologne. Stepping over to the table and picking up his clothes, Ryouga blinked as he noticed a noise in the air. Having dressed, and done his usual morning routine, skipping the morning kata in favor of finding out what was going on. He finished buttoning up the shirt. 

Outside was nearly as deserted as the guest hut. The only thing that told Ryouga were the otherwise proud villagers were, was the sound of heavy combat in the distance, sometimes a loud cheer could be heard over the noise of weapons hitting other weapons. Following the sound, Ryouga finally stepped around one of the outer huts in the village and stopped, there in the distance, all of the females in the village were gathered in a large circle, and in the center of their circle, a large log could be seen.

"It's the annual tournament!"

Ryouga turned his head and stared straight at the boy standing there. A pair of glasses glowed in the sunlight as the boy stepped out of the hut. "The annual tournament?" Looking back, Ryouga could see two Amazon women fighting on the log. 

Mousse nodded. "I'm not surprised they didn't tell you. Outsider is generally not allowed to see it." Pulling off his glasses and polishing them, the half blind boy gave an I-don't-care-about-it shrug. "The males of the village are not allowed to watch the tournament, we could distract the females battle for the title of village champion."

Shrugging himself, Ryouga turned to look at Mousse. His normally white robe had a silly looking apron wrapped around it and his hair had spots of flour in it. Reaching out a hand, Ryouga wiped a small smear of flour from the Chinese boy's nose. Then he froze and stared down at his finger and then up at the puzzled look on Mousse. "Look, I've been thinking about the stuff you told me about from the book. You know that part where Ling-Lung said she could feel her personality being affected by the curse?" Looking down at the ground, Ryouga gave a half sigh. "I think it's happening to me. I spent half an hour last night combing my hair before I remembered that I never did that before."

Mousse looked sideway at Ryouga as he began to step back into the hut. "I know, remember two days ago when you were completely consumed with staring at the new clothes Ling-Pu had made." Holding up the fabric serving as a door, Mousse motioned for him to step inside. "At least I have learned one thing from you. I'm never going to Jusenkyo." Laughing at his own statement, he was soon joined by Ryouga.

As the two of them stepped inside the hut, the noise from the tournament faded away. Inside the hut, the air was warm and humid, several young boys and a few elder men were busy working at the stove and ovens. One of them, a man with long black hair, with a few whips of white in it looked up from batting a large lump of bread dough around in a bowl. Spotting Mousse and Ryouga, his face cracked into a wide grin. "So this is the one you've been spending time with?"

Mousse grumbled and looked at the elder man. Forget it dad, I'm not giving on Shampoo, we're destined to marry

Ryouga looked between the two and shook his head. He could clearly see the resemblance of the two. Both of them had a pair of glasses tucked into their hair. Plus he had spent enough time with the Amazon to learn a few more words in Chinese then which-way-to. Stepping back, he swept his eyes over the kitchen. It was far different then what he was used too, this seemed more like a school or army kitchen. Then he looked back as Mousse grumbled and walked away.

The elder man looked up and gave a short bow. "Greetings, I'm Po-Shu." Returning to the bread Dow, he started to grin. "So what do you think of my son? Despite his bad eye sight, he not that bad a…" The rest of the sentence was caught off as a bowl smacked him on the side of his head.

Over by the large sink, Mousse glowed as he crossed his arms. "Dad, for the last time. Stop trying to set me up."

Ryouga blinked his eyes, and then turned blood red in the face as the meaning behind the words became clear to him. "Hey, I'm not interested in anyone okay. I'm just fine on my own."

Laughing, Po-Shu brushed the remains of the bowl out of his hair. "Well, that's too bad, you would have made a fine bride for my boy." Looking to the left, he nodded shortly. "So, what brings an outside like you to a place like this?" Eye's twinkling, he gave a wide smiled as the rather shocked Ryouga.   

On the other side of the room, Mousse felt like banging his head against the wall. Off cause his father would make a pass at Ryouga. Just which one of the higher powers he had ticked off to the degree of getting this guy for a dad he didn't know. "Dad, stop hitting on him."

Po-Shu looked at Mousse with big pleading eyes. "Son, would you really deny an old man his last moments of fun." Looking out of the corner if his eyes, he noted how the outsider girl was spluttering and starting to get this weird red light around her. "Well young lady, if you could help an old man, would you mind cutting some vegetables?" 

******************

Shampoo looked around the small room she had stepped into. Over in the corner, the males on kitchen duty were working hard to make more food for the party in her honor. Off to the side, she could see Mousse doing the dishes as they were brought in. And to the other side, that outsider girl or was it boy were helping the leader of the kitchen cut out some fruit. Stepping fully inside, she grinned as several males gave a bow to her.

Mousse's eyes bore into her all the way, before she stopped and glared at him. Then she walked completely over to face the outside. "Nihao, Great Grandmother want talk you on hill in half hour." Lifting her hand, she pointed in the direction of the hill.

Turning around, the purple haired girl missed the confused look on Ryouga's face. Walking over to Mousse, she looked at him with a blank expression on her face. Great Grandmother also wants to talk with you Mu Shu. Spitting out the name, she turned around and left before he could hug her. 

*****************

Shampoo grumbled as she felt her leg cramp up again. She had been spending the last hour sitting in the same position waiting. {Where are those two, Mu Shu should have been here by now.} Looking up, Shampoo made sure that her newly developed plan couldn't fail. It had been hard to get a hold on the special powder without getting caught by the elders. Amazon love powder, anyone who breathes in the powder will get attracted for at least an hour Shampoo grumbled as she began to fear her great grandmother coming up there before the others. The her scowl turned into a confident smirk as the sound of someone halfway dragging their could be heard. 

Ryouga yawned as he stumbled into the clearing, for some reason his head was alive with a faint buzzing, but he ignored it. {Last time I'll ever drink their brand of wine, stuff taste worse then dad's home brew.} Finally reaching the place Shampoo had told him to wait for Cologne in, he looked around. Finding no one but himself there at the moment, he settled in for a waiting. It wasn't long before the sound of someone walking up behind could be heard, Turning around, Ryouga looked at the person. "Mousse?"

Mousse looked from walking up the path and stared at the longhaired girl, well boy as she, he meant he wanted to be called. "Ryouga, what are you doing here?" Looking down at the note his beloved Shampoo had slipped him earlier. "Where's Shampoo, she told me to meet her here." 

Hidden in the bushes, Shampoo lifted her bow and looked up at the small silk bag handing in the tree. Slowly pulling on the arrow, she gave a nasty smirk and fired. With little to no sound, the arrow passed out from he hiding place and ripped a hole in the bottom of the bag allowing a small tinkle of white powder to fall out. The next second she cursed as a wind suddenly swept through the area and blew most of the powder away from the outsider and onto Mousse. Still, the small amount that had hit the outsider should be enough to give even a small crush.

Ryouga stepped closer as he found talking with the half blind boy better than falling asleep in some forest. "Shampoo told me to wait for Oba-sama up here. Said she had finally found a cure to make me one hundred percent male again." Rubbing his eyes, Ryouga cursed the fact that he was so damn tired already, and something in the air was annoying his eyes. Opening his eyes, Ryouga's breath caught in his throat. Slowly his body started to feel kind of warm and fuzzy as he looked at the way Mousse was blinking his eyes as well. "Mousse"

Mousse, getting tired of staring at nothing but shadows slipped his glasses down over his eyes, and froze. The way the moonlight fell through the treetops highlighted Ryouga female body in just the right way. Her long hair moving in the small wind that suddenly started, made him gasp out loud as he saw it. "Ryouga" Slowly his hand moved out and gently touched the cheek of the shorter girl.

Ryouga was in turmoil. Part of him was screaming at the other parts that this was not right, that they shouldn't be feeling this way. But the rest of the body simply didn't care. And eventually, the more macho and male part of Ryouga's mind began to dwindle and his feminine side fully emerged. Lifting a hand, she cupped the one holding her cheek and gave a radiant smile. "Mousse!"  

Moving fast, Ryouga closed the distance between them, and let her body's urges take over. She couldn't understand the feelings of her new body, but she did know that she wanted to kiss the boy who was holding her more than anything else. As their lips pressed against one another, Ryouga's heart was beating faster than it ever had, she could feel herself melt into Mousse's arms, making him serve as the only thing holding them both up. She knew deep down, that what she was feeling was wrong, but it felt so right, like this was where she was destined to be. Slowly, Mousse's lips moved away from her own, and his finger traced a path across her lower lip. "I... I..."

Mousse's felt his heart do a long series of flip-flops in his chest. He felt like he had waited for this moment for so long, so long in fact, that he forgot all about the rest of the world. All that mattered was the boy turned girl in his hands. She was so perfect, slowly, his mind drifted back to a comment he had made one of the first days about how she looked like a firefly when she flashed her aura all the time. "My beloved Firefly."

"Mousse?" The old crone, or Cologne if you prefer, sat shocked on her staff. In her hand, she held a book. "Oh dear, I see you learned the first part of the curse first hand child." The last remark was aimed at Ryouga.

Aiyaaa, Mousse and outsider! All eyes turned to Shampoo's shocked form. Eyes big, her mouth moved like a gold fish's at seeing something she hadn't expected, the boy who had chased her for so long, was kissing another girl. {Everything is working out perfectly. Now for part two} Quickly pulling out her trusted Amazon law book, she snapped it open, and turned it to the part dealing with the laws of marriage. Law 124 section b, male marriage: If an outsider female has either defeated or kissed Amazon male with his consent. They can be married if an elder of the tribe find the outsider to be a worthy addition to the tribe. Turning to her great grandmother she began to grin like a lunatic. I Shan Pu, declare myself a witness to the outsider Ryouga's engagement kiss to the Amazon male Mou su.

Cologne blinked as she realized what Shampoo was up to. Opening her mouth to protest, she gave a quick look at the puzzled Ryouga. Could she really sentence someone to a marriage with that blind fool, did the future of the tribe really mean that much to her. "I cologne, elder of the Amazon tribe, find the outsider female Ryouga Hibiki, to be a worthy addition to the Amazon tribe. The marriage will be held in three days, under the light of the full moon." 

Ryouga's eyes snapped to the smiling Cologne, and then finally to the very happy look on Shampoo's face. "What, what do you mean." Pushing Mousse away, she jumped up and looked down at the elder women. "I'm a guy okay, there's no way I'm marrying anyone." Even as she spoke, she noticed the shadows moving up to surround the small clearing. None of them entered the moonlight, but chose to stay in the shadows.

Cologne lifted up the law book, and showed the page they had found where the law was written too Ryouga. "You made the final move in your kiss. That counts as a marriage proposal in our village between a outside woman or girl, and a Amazon male." Patting the shoulder of the horrified Ryouga, she gave a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll warm up to the idea of being an Amazon wife. Until then, you'll be spending the traditional three days in the marriage hut, where you will prepare to be wed to your coming husband." As the last words were spoken, a row of Amazon, all armed with a weapon of some kind showed up and began to escort Ryouga back to the village. "Mousse, you'll spend the time until the full moon, making the gift that will close the marriage between the two of you."  

Mousse glared at Shampoo, before he turned a frost filled look at the elder. "As you wish elder." Turning around, he began to stomp back towards the village. His mind was a whirlwind of different thought and emotions. Part of him was scared at the thought of having kissed someone else besides his beloved Shampoo, another part was happy about. The main part of him was confused as to why he was feeling things like this, and then towards an outsider who wasn't even a real girl. But all those protests and screaming thoughts was dying under the fire of love that had been ignited that evening.

Unnoticed by all. Shampoo stayed behind in the clearing as everyone left, some to return to the celebration party, others to their guardian post. As the last person left, Shampoo turned to stare up into the tree. Hanging down, a special flower of silk paper moved back and fourth in the wind. That stuff worked better then I thought, maybe he'll leave me alone now. Climbing up into the tree and slowly removing the paper flower, Shampoo smirked as she crushed it into a small paper ball and stuffed it into her shirt. No one will find it now. Shampoo turned around, climbed down the tree and began the walk back towards the village. I'm free of Mu Shu at last!  Shampoo's walk turned into a run as she couldn't wait to celebrate it.

Tbc.

**************

AN: I'm so happy. There, I bet this little piece told everyone the reason why Mousse was so quick to turn away from his beloved Shampoo after he met Ryouga. Will the curse of the love potion be cured, will this Über flashback ever end. Do I even know where I'm going with this thing? For all you Ranma lovers, He'll show up in the next chapter again, and his luck will be the same rotten one as ever. Watch him as he stumbles in on the wedding of Ryouga and Mousse in true Ranma style.

CELEBRATING THE FIRST YEAR ON FF.NET (With an extreme delay)

Yes folks, I've been on FF.net for a whole year. Wow I can hardly believe it, I was actually once thinking of dropping it all on the floor and give up on it. But then I got some great support from a pre-reader, and then five to six months later another great friend joined in with support and helped me to continue writing this story.

Show your support and review. Don't hold yourself back, even if it is a hateful comment you have. Reviews keep me going.  

I got my own dot-com this month. It's small now, but I plan to dump a lot of stuff there. You can find mine, as well as my good buddy Gyzzmo's corner on the web at http://www.deminohoyer.com/

Later,

Dak.


	8. Part 8

Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2. 

Summery: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. The Chinese Amazon Mousse has show up, and declared that he and Ryouga are engaged. Ryouga is currently telling Akane Tendo how she and Mousse met back in China and wound up getting engaged. 

======================================

Ranma and Ryouga-chan?

Part VIII

In China it happened part III

======================================

Ryouga Hibiki stared straight at the bamboo wall of her new room. Her mind was lost in an endless flow of thoughts as she failed to get the rest she wanted. For in the end, all her thoughts really boiled down to just one thing. Her kiss, her very first kiss, and it had been with a boy. Sure, Mousse wasn't such a bad fellow, but she was a guy dammit, no matter what she may look like now, she was a guy. So why couldn't she forget it? Why couldn't she forget, just forget it dammit.

Moving fast, Ryouga closed the distance between them, letting her body urges take over. She couldn't understand the feelings of her new body, but she did know that she wanted to kiss the boy who was holding her, more then anything else. As their lips pressed against one another, Ryouga's heart was beating faster then it ever had, she could feel herself melt into Mousse's arms, making him serve as the only thing holding them both up. She knew deep down that what she was feeling was wrong, but it felt so right, like this was where she was destined to be. Slowly, Mousse's lips moved away from her own, and his finger traced a path across her lower lip. "I... I..."

Ryouga didn't know if she should scream, trash the room, or simply hope that by some miracle she could get lost again. Still, it wouldn't be so bad getting married to Mousse, he was very friendly, and really good. (Gah) Ryouga mentally kicked herself, what was her problem? Looking over her shoulder, Ryouga learned just what her problem was, it was big, it was ugly, it was Bi-so, the second winner in the tournament, and she was sitting just outside the door.

Ryouga tapped her fingers on the table before she regarded the bamboo and clay walls around her. It might have served as a good prison to someone else, but this was Ryouga Hibiki, she could kick down the wall and be out of here in no time. Standing up, Ryouga lifted her foot and aimed to bring down the whole wall. "Goodbye, hope we never meet again."

"Going Somewhere?"

Ryouga's foot stopped a whole centimeter away from the wall as the dry and all too familiar voice broke out behind her. Turning her head around, she came face to face with a smiling Cologne and three other Amazon girls holding large piles of clothes. "You, get me out of here." Making a grab for the old crone, Ryouga was rewarded with a rather hard bop on her head, sending her face first into the floor. Looking up, she glared at the old woman who was twirling her staff around with one hand and with a big smirk on her face. "Dammit, I'm not marrying anyone, do you understand?"

Cologne stopped twirling her staff and looked to the three Amazon girls. 

******************

Mousse stared hard at the sword before him. Glimmering in the light as he moved his hand over the blade, he felt for any imperfections in the blade itself. Smiling, as none could be felt, he settled down to finish with the wrapping of his engagement gift. "Ryouga, It has been a long time, but tonight our engagement and marriage will be settled." Standing up, Mousse lifted the fine leather sheath for the sword and slid it in. As he regarded it, he wrapped a fine pink silk cloth around it and tied it together with a silk band.

Behind him, the other in the smith clapped as Mousse turned around and presented the package to the master smith. "Master Bo san, I ask that you finalize my work with your blessings." Holding out the gift-wrapped sword, he lowered his head to show his sincerity of the request.

Smiling, the elder Amazon male stepped forward and took the wrapped sword from Mousse. "I will put it into the shrine with the pure firing incenses until the ceremony of your finalized engagement tonight."

Bowing one last time in gratitude, Mousse looked up at the man who had stood by him as he worked on making the finest sword he could for the one he loved. Stopping, Mousse blinked as a sudden image of Shampoo flashed before him. "Maybe I'm not completely over her, but Ryouga is the girl I love, not Xian Pu."

Pushing the small cloth in front of the door aside, Mousse stepped out into the sun filled day and blinked his eyes. Spending three days inside the smith's house hadn't prepared him for the sudden amount of light outside the house. Finally able to see, he lowered his eyes to see a bald and wrinkled mummy holding onto the side of a staff. "Well Mousse, have you complete your gift for the outsider bride of yours?"

Glaring at the elder Yu-san, Mousse hid his hands inside the large sleeves of his robe as he bowed his head to the superior of his family. "Yes Elder, I have completed my gift for my coming wife." Hiding the more venom filled words as he spoke, Mousse waited for the elder to leave so he could return to his family home and prepare for his marriage at midnight.

Looking up, the elder Yu-san nodded as a rare smile crossed her face. Tapping Mousse on the shoulder with her staff, she grinned. "Well Mousse, I hope that you will have a happy marriage." Then the staff was pulled back and used as a means of looking at Mousse at an even height. "It can only be better than one with an Amazon woman."

Mousse blinked as the soft words hit him and made him step back in surprise. "Elder Yu-san?" Looking around again, Mousse found himself standing alone on the ground outside the smith's house. Smiling, he turned in the direction of his house. "Thank you, Great Grandmother."

Standing on the roof of the building, Yu-san stared down at her thickheaded great grandson and shook her head. "Mousse, you were always the rebellious one, just like your grandmother." Thinking over the over confident and love sick Amazon girl that had been her second child, she felt a pang of regret. "Maybe, I shouldn't have acted like that. But falling in love with an outsider that hadn't beaten you was forbidden back then." Using a trick that all the Elders in the Amazon tribe knew, she pogoed through the city using the roof tops as a road.

The trip back to his parent's house and his home for the last sixteen years was a long one, but to Mousse it wasn't long enough. The words of his great grandmother, even if she or his mother wouldn't admit that they were related, had him wondering. It had been common knowledge that the council or his mother hadn't accepted his grandmother's marriage to the outsider Hiroko, it had also sparked the elder woman's resentment to all outsiders, so why was she suddenly giving him her unofficial blessing?

"Well, if it isn't the lucky boy himself."

Groaning in embarrassment, Mousse struggled to get out of his father's embrace and to get up to his room. "Mom, tell him to let me go." The just as vision impaired woman looked up from her place at the end of the table and stared at him with an indifferent look. "Um. Mom you're okay with my marriage, aren't you?"

Standing up, the woman crossed through the room and stared down at her son with narrowed eyes from behind her trick glasses. "Just like my grandmother. Nothing but trouble." Pushing her husband away, she grabbed Mousse by the ear and dragged him further into the room. "Are you looking to increase the distance between the San clan and our family?"

Mousse pulled his mother's arm away with a cold look in his eyes. "No, but I'm still going to marry Ryouga, and that's the end of it." Turning away from the angry glare pointed at him from his mother, He looked at his father with a warmer gaze. "Father, I'll be in my room until the ceremony can begin." Bowing to the older man, Mousse quickly left the main room and made his way towards the room that served as his place in the building.

Closing the door, Mousse shook his head as he sat down on the simple bed and relaxed. "Dammit, the one person who never treated me as a family member suddenly speaks to me as a lost son, and then my own mother won't let me marry the one person I love." Mousse dropped back onto the bed and closed his eyes. Finding the robe he had selected for his wedding could wait a few moments.

******************

On the hills outside of the Village of the Amazons, a lone red haired girl and her panda were approaching the village in front of them. The guide was currently leading the way towards the village with a heavy heart. He had spent most of the time today warning the elder costumer about the danger of visiting the Amazons. And each of his warning had fallen on deaf ears. Now, he was leading them towards the village as he had agreed on when the panda had promised not to cause any trouble.

Ranma-chan, still fuming over turning into a girl, was busy rubbing her sore hand and shooting a death glare at the old man she called a father. "You know pops, if you knew any Chinese we wouldn't be in this mess." Glaring back at the road, Ranma-chan missed the angry look coming from Genma-panda.

Growling at his ungrateful son, Genma pulled out one of the trusty signs that he had learned to do in his panda form and quickly scribbled down a message on it. Flipping the sign around, he bonked his son on the head and used what could be seen, as a language for pandas, to get his son's attention on the sign. [Growf, something has come up boy.] The panda flipped the sign around when he noticed his son had finished reading it. [We will stop at the next village and get some] Once again the sign was flipped over, and the old writing on the back replaced with a new one. [More provisions. Then it's back to Japan, boy!]

Pulling the sign away from the large Panda, Ranma-chan glared up at the old fool, who could be seen as her father if he wasn't such a big idiot most of the time. "So, where is this village?" The question was aimed at the guide, as Ranma doubted her father had even bothered to study the map they had borrowed from the shop five villages back.

In front of them, the guide stopped and turned to face them as they passed the first houses. "Honored costumers, this is Joketsuzoku, village of Chinese Amazons." Looking around the village, the Guide noticed that the entire village was gathered near the center of all of the houses. "We in luck, they have party tonight."

Both Ranma-chan and Genma-panda looked up at the word party, something like that could only mean one thing. Food. Looking down at his son with a big panda grin as he rubbed his paws together, Genma-panda nodded and both of them began to walk towards the center of the village with a more rapid pace then before.

Stepping into the back of the large crowd, Ranma-chan blinked as she noticed that most of the males were sitting in the back, except for two of them who had been given a place near the center of the half circle. One of them was dressed in a rather elaborated robe with a beautiful bird symbol on it. The elder man sitting next to the boy was holding a large wooden box in his hands and was currently looking rather excited at the large platform in the very center of the circle.

The guide had removed his pipe before he had even had a chance to light it. This was not good, if any of the costumers were to cause any trouble right now, he would most likely be hunted down along with them. Turning to face the red haired girl, he spoke in a rather hushed voice. "Be very quiet honored costumer, it is Amazon wedding ceremony."

Ranma blinked and turned to face the guide, and then nodded. It hadn't taken long for a train martial artist like him to notice the number of weapons that some of the women were sitting with. Sitting down at one of the tables standing outside the rather large hut, Ranma-chan followed the event with a curious eye.

It didn't taken long before the circle of women and men suddenly became completely quiet. Looking in the direction that all the others were facing, she spotted a group of ten rather old women walking in a single line towards the platform. A few of them were not walking, but rather holding on to the side of a staff and using that to walk with.

Stopping on the platform, nine of the women sat down in a half circle. Facing the villages, the only one still standing up, lifted her staff and spoke in a clear voice.  Turning to face the large hut behind the half circle, Cologne pointed her staff at it. Child of the outsiders, come out and receive the honor of becoming the wife and leader of the house of Mousse.

Ranma-chan blinked and looked to her side as a young purple haired girl opened the door into the hut to allow the four inside of it to leave it. As the group passed her, she closed the door and returned to face the circle and the platform. Ranma-chan narrowed her eyes and stared at the girl wearing a robe embodied with a tiger and leaves motif. The long black hair had been pulled into two ponytails and she was holding in her hands, a small wooden box.

Walking on both sides of the girl, two Amazon girls dressed in more dull robes were holding up a spear with both a red and blur scarf tied to it. Behind them, a third girl walked. Even if she didn't hold a weapon, it was clear that she was capable of putting up a good fight. Stopping in front of the platform, the two girls stopped and turned around to face the crowd, the third followed after the girl holding the box and looked up at the elders with a proud look in her eyes.  Finishing her line, she turned around and walked down to sit among the other villages to wait for her second part of the marriage ceremony. As she walked past the two girls with the spears, she felt them lowered down to meet in an X.

Nodding to Ryouga in a friendly way, Cologne turned to look down at Mousse sitting next to his father.  Even as she spoke, the two girls standing before the platform uncrossed their spears and allowed him to come closer to the girl he was going to marry. Looking at his father, Mousse took the wooden box from him and walked up to bow before each of the elders.

The guide leaned over to mumble a translation to Ranma-chan when he was rudely pushed out of the way by Mousse, holding a rather sharp and deadly set of knives in his free hand. "I don't care who you are, but for ruining my wedding, you are going to die!" Yelling out the last, Mousse blinked, as the panda looked at him with a somewhat questioning stare.

Then, a third member shoved her way into the group with a glare of her own, both fists clenched and a vein poking out on her forehead. "Ranma Saotome, must you always butt into everything!?" The last words were delivered with a good deal of venom and the very rage and emotion, pushed the more drugged and feminine Ryouga back and allowed the anger filled one to remain in complete control.

Ranma-chan looked from each one until she stopped at Ryouga with a scared look in her eyes. "Get those hands off me you, you… What the hell are you doing anyway? Aren't you a guy?" Ranma-chan blurted out as she stopped pulling on the hand holding her up. "What the heck are you doing getting married to this guy anyway."

Turning her head to stare at Mousse, the love drug kicked back in and the grip around Ranma-chan eased up. "Mousse… Uh… Well…" Shaking her head, Ryouga tried to beat down the desire to reach out and kiss the boy staring at her with a loving stare on his face. Stepping back from the table and holding her head, she looked up at Ranma with a pleading look. "Help me."

Looking more closely at Ryouga. Ranma-chan eyes narrowed as she spotted the halfway glazed over look in her eyes. "A drug." Turning her head to face Mousse, her hand snapped out and grabbed the boy at the front of robe, pulling him close enough to feel her breath on his face. "What have you done to him?"

Next to them, the guide had moved over to stand next to the confused Shampoo and begun to work as a guide to translate the words she didn't understand yet. Inside the Amazon girl's head, a fear had begun to grow. The outsider girl with the red hair had seen the signs of the love powder she had used on Ryouga. It was bad enough that she knew about it, but if Mousse found out, he might… 

Ranma-chan snapped around at the roar and stared as the Amazon girl lifted up her bonbori and prepared to smash it down on her head. Acting on instinct, she dropped Mousse and spun around in a Circle Kick, passing right through the purple haired girl's defense and sending her flying through the air to land in the remains of the food, much to the sound of disappointment from Genma-panda when the food was ruined.

Pulling herself out of the remains of the Chicken and Beef flavored Ramen noodles, Shampoo turned around and stared long and hard on the Red Haired Girl with a look of pure hate. Stepping closer to the still battle ready Ranma-chan, she reached out slowly and grabbed her head gently, to the utter confusement of the pigtailed Girl. Tilting the head, she slowly moved her head in and placed a kiss on the cheek.

Even as Ranma-chan lifted up her hand to touch the place where she had kissed her, The Amazons around her had moved back with a loud gasp of surprise and bewilderment. Behind the Amazon girl, the guide had turned completely white and was making strange sounds. Then he rushed over and grabbed her hand. "We must to run Mr. Costumer."

Looking up at the guide with a look of surprise as they ran, Ranma-chan ignored the fact that the guide was holding her hand. "Why?" 

Not looking back, the guide continued to run like the rampaging hordes were right behind him, aiming to kill him. "You just get Kiss of Death."

"Kiss of what?"

The guide's face became even more troubled as he spoke of the Kiss of Death. "Amazons have very big pride. Losing to outsider, is worse shame than death. Kiss of Death, is promise to chase you to end of earth and kill!"

Ranma-chan gulped as she looked back over her shoulder, running behind her, were Genma-chan, and behind him came the Chinese girl and… Ranma-chan turned her head back around and ran even faster when she spotted the large sword the girl was waving around in the air. It wasn't until she became aware of someone screaming bloody death at the panda that she looked back again.

Running up to the side of Genma-panda, Ryouga reached out and tried to pry her present to Mousse, lost from the amount of stuff that Genma-panda had grabbed off the table when he ran. And even further behind them and Shampoo, Mousse was running as well, yelling out promises to both Ranma-chan and Genma-panda for ruining his wedding.

++++++++++++End of Flashback+++++++++++++

Ryouga looked up from where she sat and stared at Akane with half closed eyes as she put down her cup of tea. "I did get my present back from Genma, but at that time, he had gotten us all lost in the woods, and since I didn't know my way around that part off China, I had no other choice but to stay with them."

Blinking her eyes, Akane looked from Ryouga to Mousse with a look of anger as she reached out for her trusted anti-pervert-mallet-of-doom, as she went over the part of Mousse trying to marry a drugged Ryouga, and in her mind that thing was worse then trying to grope a girl. "You… you pervert!!" Akane glared down at Mousse as his head was stuck into the blanket they had been sitting on. "I can't believe you would try to force Ryouga-san to marry you!!"

Ryouga blinked and then reached out to pull Mousse free from under it. "Akane, you should try and control your temper, Mousse was drugged as well remember?" Making sure that Mousse was okay, She turned back to face a nearly crying Akane, who shook with rage. "Akane, calm down will you? Look, sit down and I'll tell you something you should know."

Still holding her mallet, Akane glared at both of them. First at the pervert who had tried to force a girl into a marriage when she was drugged, and then at Ryouga who had the nerve to defend him even when it was her who had nearly been married. "How can you defend him after he nearly ruined your life?!"

Ryouga flinched and fought down the urge to slap Akane silly and settled for glaring up at her. "The powder stopped working four weeks ago." Her head turned away as she spotted the surprised look on Akane's face. "I stopped turning into a love sick person four weeks ago when Ranma and I finally found someone who had a cure for the powder."

Akane looked from Ryouga to Mousse with a look of confusion on her face as she fell down on her back. "So you are not drugged anymore, but what about the pervert?" Her finger pointed at Mousse who was still in lala land.

Ryouga looked at Mousse with a sad smile on her face. "The drug helped speed up the process of becoming a true girl, but it also affected me emotional. I love Mousse, just as I would love any girl I had met when I was a boy." Looking at Akane, Ryouga smiled as a set of tears began to run down her face as she remembered the moment she had finally accepted the harsh truth. "I gave the cure to Mousse as well when he showed up. And after he had taken it, he just stared at me, with those hollow eyes and finally, he ran away." Hiding her eyes by looking down at the ground, Ryouga fought back a choke. "I was so hurt by it, and that was when I learned, that I loved him. I really loved him."

Akane stared at Ryouga and felt her heart clench at the sight of Ryouga beating herself emotionally for it. This was worse then a physical beating, at least that you could get rid off in a few weeks, this was close to an emotional scar on his soul. "You… You are angry about it."

Ryouga turned her head and stared at a tree with a look of pure rage. "Of course, I've been raised as a boy, lived as a boy." Clenching her fist, Ryouga hammered it down onto the ground. "And then, I'm stuck as a girl forever, and now… I fall in love with another guy." Ripping her hands through the grass in order to hurt something, Ryouga looked up at the sky as a tear of anger flew from her eye. "You can't even BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I HATE MYSELF FOR IT!" Silence ruled after the outburst as Ryouga lowered her head. "And yet, I can't help but feel my heart beating faster when I see him, I lose all will to hurt him when I see him… All I want to do is hug him and kiss him. And I hate myself for it, and yet… I can't help it." Ryouga borrowed her head into the safety of her arms and knees as she began to cry.

Still staring at her, Akane looked down at Mousse with a look of pity on her face. Falling back down, she closed her eyes, and wished for her big sister to be there. Kasumi would have known what to say, but her… She had no idea how to deal with stuff like this.

"Ryouga!"

Looking back over her shoulder, Akane blinked as she noticed Ranma standing there, his eyes full of pain and concern as he took in the scene he had wandered into. Turning to face Akane, he gave a halfhearted smile at her in an attempt to break the sense of sadness in the place. "So… now you know. I feel bad for it. If I hadn't given him the cure, this wouldn't have happened." Turning his head, Ranma looked at Mousse with an indifferent stare, then he stopped closer and bent down to pick him up, grunting from the weight of all the weapons hidden in the robe. "Akane, can you take Ryouga home?"

Akane nodded, dumbfound, and stood up dusting off the grass from her dress. Walking over to the still crying girl, she bent down and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Ryouga… Ryouga." When the girl before her looked up, Akane fought down the urge to hug and cry along with her. Those eyes, they held so much pain in them. "Come on, can you walk home or do you need some help?"

Ryouga looked past Akane when she noticed the red Chinese shirt and the slippers of the boy holding Mousse in a rather loose grip. "Ranma?" Her words hung in the air as Ranma smiled at her, and then gave a small nod to show that he understood, that he had always understood. Turning back to Akane, She reached out and accepted the hand and used it to pull herself up. "Thank you, Ranma… Akane." Turning away, Ryouga felt Akane wrap an arm around her, gently guiding her towards the Tendo home.

******************

Jumping off the boat she had borrowed in order to get to Japan, Shampoo stretched her body and smirked. Now that she had made her way to Japan, all she had to do was find the pigtailed outsider who had dared to humiliate her at such a public event. 

TBC: Back to normal? Invasion of the Amazons.


	9. Part 9

Disclaimer: See parts 1 - 2.

Summery: Thanks to Genma's laziness, Ryouga is stuck as Girl when hit with hot water and as a pig with cold water. Now she lives with the Tendo's and Saotome's hoping to find a cure for both her curses or at least to be rid of the pig. The Chinese Amazon Mousse has show up, and declared that he and Ryouga are engaged, and Shampoo has finally made it to Japan, hunting for the one who humiliated her.

======================================  
Ranma and Ryouga-chan?  
Part IX  
Back to Normal, Invasion of the Amazon's  
======================================

Setting down the last few empty bowls on the table and arranging the chop sticks correctly, she stood back up and cast a critical look over the table, the food was ready, the table was ready, and the hot water would be done in a few moments, all in all, everything was just as it should be for tonight's dinner. Kasumi smiled to herself at another good job done and sat about finding the family so they could eat.

Waiting patiently for her father to sit down at the head of the table before she began to eat anything, she cast a quick glance over the table, checking to see if she had missed anything. Looking up and smiling at her father as he entered, she failed to notice the slightly strange look in his eyes as he looked over the people around the table. "Kasumi Dear, where's the young Ryouga at?"

Blinking in surprise, Kasumi turned to stare at the spot next to Ranma that Ryouga usually sat in whenever they used the table finding it empty, casting a strange glance over at Ranma, she tried to see if he knew where the black haired girl were, but his eyes held the same puzzlement, and a small frown of concern hidden behind it. Returning her attention to her father, she shook her head and replied. "I don't know Father, I haven't seen her since she came back from school."

Looking up from her place, Nabiki slowly lowered her manga book and closed it, her eyes glinting with a small twinkle, as the nervous feel to her father hadn't gone completely unnoticed by her. It would be fun to try and find out what had upset her father so much, and why he was looking for one of their freeloading houseguests. But still, she had promised the black haired girl not to tell anyone where she had been going earlier that day; still with the amount of yen she had gotten out of it. She had only agreed to keep silent for a few hours. "She went out for a while, took her backpack and some food with her."

Dropping his chopsticks, Ranma, Soun and Kasumi stared at the middle Tendo sister with disbelief on their faces at the news. Reacting with the usual tact his upbringing had taught him, Ranma cast a dark look on Nabiki and leaned a bit closer. "What do ya mean she left?" Voice full of his skeptic as to how much asking it would cost him, this was the same girl who would demand money just to call for help to an injured person.

Chewing down a piece of Octopi as she calmly ignored the insulting tone Ranma had just used against her, Nabiki was busy going over how much she would be able to charge for her information and help. Holding out her hand, she smiled at Ranma and ignored the shocked look on Kasumi's face, she may have backed down on the Ryouga photo issue, but this was a different matter. "3000 yen, Saotome."

Soun's stern look of disapproval didn't reach Nabiki as her fingers twitched to show that she waiting for the money to be handed over to her. Across from her, Ranma look could have burned a hole through that small hand if he had been superman, instead, he was just Ranma Saotome, and all he could do, was hand over the money he had. "Here, all I have is 2300 yen."

Snapping up the bills and quickly counting them in her mind, Nabiki smiled and pocketed them as she took in the angry glare sent at her from most of the people around the table, the only one who didn't shoot a stern look at her was Mr. Saotome, and that was only because he was to busy stealing all of Ranma's food while the boy wasn't looking. Having secured the money, Nabiki picked up her chopsticks and looked at the pigtailed boy with a curious glance. "Ryouga left four hours ago, she didn't really tell me where she was going, but I did managed to see her map, she's somewhere in the Mount Terror region."

Standing up and grabbing the back of his father's neck, Ranma began to march out of the room, a backpack already slung around his shoulders. "Let's go pops." Shooting a look back at the shocked people staring at him, he snorted loudly. "You think I'm going to let Ryouga run off an training trip like that, no way."

"You're right boy." Genma cried as he jumped up and pushed himself free of his son's rather painful grip on his neck. "It's a martial artist duty to make sure he's strong." Grabbing his son pigtail, he began to walk back to the table, ignoring the cry of pain it earned him from his son. "But before we leave, we should show our respect to Kasumi, and enjoy the wonderful meal she has prepared for us."

---------------------

Ryouga sighed in content as she once again felt the opened wind on her face after the weeks of nothing but city air. It was rather funny to her, how something as mundane as a fresh breeze could cheer her up like this. Settling down on the ground, her eyes wandered over the wide spread landscape before her, the sight of the rive sneaking through the farmland below her, and past the rather large farm over there. It was great to once again be wandering around, even if he had promised to be back sometime with in the next two days, right now after the whole deal with mousse and the memory of what had happened in China, she just needed some time alone, and what better way to do that then to go on a little training trip. "When I get back Ranma, I'll grind your face in the dirt, just you wait." A yellow aura formed as her face it up with a friendly grin; she would finally gain the upper hand in their sparing matches for once.

The response to her battle cry came in the form of a sudden downpour, water hitting her in the face rather harshly, and seconds before a black piglet stood in her place. "BWWEEEE!!" Of course, this would make climbing Mount Terror so much more challenging, but she would make it, she could do it, she would beat Ranma and this stupid mountain, if she didn't get lost along the way.

Struggling up the mountain side, Ryouga-pig pulled the large backpack after him, his ears and eyes open to spot any movement around him, the feeling of fear growing, in this form, he was sure to become a quick meal to the first thing with sharp teeth that crossed him if he wasn't ready to defend him at all time.

---------------------

Sighing as he leaned back against the wall, Mousse looked around the small room he was currently in, it didn't look like much, but at least it was his. Now all he had to do was find a place to earn the needed money to pay for it, but first, he had to get something to eat. Staring out of his window, he looked down at the street, and at the two small restaurants lying side by side. "Hmm, what should it be tonight, sushi or sushi?" The words dripped with sarcasm as he turned away. "They could at least have different menu."

"True, those two lack wisdom to have placed their shops so close to one another."

Jumping back as soon as he heard the voice talk, Mousse looked at whoever it was, his eyes growing a bit wide when he spotted someone he hadn't expected to see again, well not until he had returned to the village with his beloved. "It's you... Old Crone." The last was stated as Cologne jumped out from the shadows, her staff moving trough the air and smacking him on the head.

Looking down at Mousse as he pulled himself up from the floor, Cologne looked around the small place, her eyes going over the lack of... well basically everything in the place, seemed the only thing there, was the half blind boy's backpack leaning on the wall. "Seems you just keep sinking to new lows everyday Mousse." She stated as she poked him in the chest. "Still, I expect you to have found your bride since you have settled in."

Mousse grumbled a low answer as he shook of the dust from his robe, turning to stare at the blurred outline of the old women as he pulled out a new pair of glasses from his wide sleeves. "Yes, she lives at a place here in Nerima." Smiling at the thought of Ryouga, Mousse pulled out a rose from his right sleeve. "As does that boy she and Panda she's traveling with."

Cologne nodded as she listened to him, her mind already working on several things that might be useful to the half blind boy in his quest for the outsider girl. "Yes, what about Shampoo, have you seen her?" Carefully masking her concern, Cologne stared at Mousse as she pulled out her pipe, that Great Granddaughters of her would need to hear the rest of the story. "Something has come up that concerns the Kiss of Death she gave."

Mousse nodded as he sat down on the floor as well, using his sleeping back as a seat. "Yes, I saw it a few days ago, seems the red haired girl is a boy." Mousse added in a strained voice as he pulled off his glasses to clean them a bit. "I assume you're here to tell her, or to see what her reaction will be."

Shrugging as she settled down on the floor across from him, Cologne inhaled on her pipe and blew out a small cloud of smoke into the air, her eyes seeming to just stare right through. "Maybe, for now, I am here on the councils behalf, not as it matriarch." Her eyes narrowing, she gave a small smile at Mousse. "The marriage between you and young Ryouga has been reviewed by them, and it has been decided that since the wedding was interrupted before its completion, you are to claim her as a bride before a year has passed."

Dropping his glasses, Mousse stared down at Cologne, his eyes going wide with shock at the news. "What do you mean, I thought I had already married her." Voice rising with his anger, Mousse stood up and began to mumble loudly under his breath. "There could be a problem with that, Ranma and Ryouga seems closer now then they were in China, he might have some feelings for her, and I knew he doesn't like me after what happened at the wedding."

Nodding while listing to his speech, Cologne continued to smoke her pipe while going over several plans in her head. "Well, you can challenge him to a duel for her hand." Watching Mousse for his reaction, she gave a small grin when she saw his reaction to her words; it looked like she would be getting some entertainment on this journey. "By the way, I took some time out to see how your bride is doing at her home, and I learned that she has left on a training trip."

Turning around, mousse stared down at the older woman with a big smile on his face, the thought of being alone with Ryouga and training the art with her did sound a lot better then spending time in a place like this. "Where did she go, did Ranma go with her, how far is it?"

"Relax." Cologne replied as she pulled her staff back after knocking him on the head with it. "I will show you were he is, if you agree to help me in finding an answer to something that has been puzzling me."

---------------------

"Stupid Ryouga."

The words came from Ranma's mouth as he felt himself nearly stumbling over another root sticking out of the ground, behind him, Genma where still going strong despite having gotten a beating for suggesting that he sleep in the same tent as Akane, who for some reason had gotten convinced to join in on the trip as well.

Speaking of the girl, she was also having trouble finding her way in the darkness; well until she had brought out a flashlight and turned in on to better see. Something, which had Ranma snort in annoyance, how did she hope to train her ability to sense things without looking for them if she refused to take the chances nature gave her to train it. "Hey, old man, when will we be there anyway?"

A fist impacting his head was the first response from Genma as she walked past them, his eyes trained on the mountaintop up ahead of them while searching for a good place to make camp for the night. "Well, if we keep up this pace, it will only be an hour or so before we are half way up to the top." Looking back as he heard grumbling from his student and the girl about beating him up as hard as they could, he gave a small grin. "But I think we'll make camp in short while, so relax a bit okay."

Higher up on the mountain, Ryouga looked down at the light moving around a good deal off the base of the mountain. "Hmm, didn't think anyone else would ever think of coming here." Shrugging to herself, she turned back around to her instant noodles and her weights, taking the time to practice a bit while waiting for the food to cool down enough for her to eat it. "345...346..." Dropping the weights and grumbling, she turned and stared down at the umbrella she had brought along, that thing had more weight in it then those metal things, but for some reason, she had been compelled to take the weights along, why she would never know.

Dropping down and feeling the cup of noodles, she grinned as she tore the lid off and began to eat it, it was nice to be able to relax like this again, just her, the stars and the annoying boar staring at her from the edge of the clearing. Stopping and going back over the words, Ryouga turned her head and found herself looking right into the eyes of a boar grunting as it looked at her. "What?"

"Grunt!"

Several sounds of struggle later, Ryouga looked down at the massively bruised boar with a slight tick in her left eye, the damn thing had been more persistent then the others she had met, but it was still a big pain in the... Trailing off, she settled for kicking the boar off into the night sky, taking a great satisfaction in watching it fade away. "Good riddance." Sitting down and resuming her meal, she grunted as she began to think of a good place to start with her training.

Ranma stared straight ahead in puzzlement for a split second as he pushed the low hanging branch out of the way, the sight of a badly bruised Boar lying on it's back in a shallow mud hole was more then enough for him to wonder as too why it was doing that, until the few times in the past where Ryouga had somehow gotten attacked by the local boars or pigs for no reason came to mind. "Must be because of the curse." He muttered and stopped. The thought passing through him that if Ryouga attracted all those pigs and boars thanks to the spring of drowned pig, would that mean he would also attract just as many girls.

Behind him, Genma shook his head and began to walked around the boar looking at it with a critical eye, the sudden urge for bacon raining up in him again, despite the trouble he always got whenever he had tried to eat, cook or buy it in the last couple of months since that day at Jusenkyo, but thankfully to him, there was one thing that saved both him and the boar this time.

"Will you two get a move on, I'm tired and I want to sleep."

Stepping back in fear of the towering angry girl yelling at them, Both Ranma and Genma began to move up the mountain again. Both of them shooting a dark look at one another, blaming the other one for bringing along the girl when it had, almost been a silent agreement to bring her along, if only to cook up a decent meal for both of them, surely, someone with a excellent cook like Kasumi in the family had to be better then them in the kitchen and over a camping stove or bonfire.

Further down the mountain, Mousse wheezed as he looked up at Cologne sitting calmly on the back of the extra large backpack he was carrying, a puff of smoke coming from her pipe. "Well Mousse, I must say you have shown a great restrain lately." Feeling his question before he even spoke she gave a small smile. "Before this, you would have attacked that Ranma boy outright to prove that Ryouga belonged with you and not him."

"Yes Elder, but really, why do I have to carry all of this?" Mousse asked as he shot her a very cold glare, some of the old resent he had felt for her when he was chasing Shampoo still going strong even now, and it didn't look like it was going to go away any time soon.

Cologne, ignoring the complaint, simply settled back to enjoy the nature around her, wondering if her current idea was the right one, and if her suspicion about things were right. "Mousse boy, you said Ryouga was still showing interest in you right?" Something, which shouldn't be right, the powder should have worn off by now, given how little she received from Shampoo's account of the incident.

"Yes, she loves me, and nothing will ever change that." Mousse declare as he finally reached the place Cologne had pointed out for him to set up camp for the night, the task of raising the tent, making the fire, preparing some food and finding water still ahead of him, but for now, he could relax.

"Get to work boy, I'll be back shortly." Cologne ordered as she used her staff to carry her away form the camp, and towards the upper parts of the mountain in a far more rapid pace then the one Mousse had used. "I'll be looking into something's for a little while."

Not listing to her, mousse slowly rolled over onto his back and stared up into the star lit sky, wondering if teaming up with the old crone had been a good idea in this matter, and just what her business on the mountain was anyway. But for now, he would rest, and then, he would set the tent, make the fire, cook the food and find some water, and he had to do it, before the old bat returned to complain about it.

---------------------

Ryouga sighed to herself as she sat down inside her tent, a tired look on her face as she rolled out her sleeping bag on the ground, the softness of it not standing up to the bed she had back at the Tendo's, but more then enough to make her relax. Settling back, Ryouga gave a loud scream as she spotted a small and really wrinkled person looking at her.

"Hush Child." Cologne demanded as her staff lashed out and bonked the black haired girl on the head, driving her into the ground with a loud oomph, hands held up in the double Spiderman web-shooting stance as she recovered. Cologne, in the meantime settled down on the sleeping bag and settled for scanning the inside of the tent, waiting for the girl to get over the shock.

Pulling herself up form the ground, Ryouga glared around the tent before spotting Cologne sitting across from her, an unlit pipe twirling in one hand while her eyes were glinting with amusement. "Elder Cologne, what are you doing here?" She stammered out as she backed off, getting the feeling that maybe they had showed up to drag her off to complete the marriage.

Still twirling the pipe, Cologne stared briefly at Ryouga, taking time to note the different emotions that played across it in a rapid fashion, ranging from shock, to fear to outright terror. "Relax child, I've spoken with Mousse and I am glad to hear that you two are getting along so well, and after all this time no less."

Ryouga glared a bit at the words, feeling the anger over the incident in the Amazon village resurfacing again, along with the desire to show the purple haired Amazon girl just how much she had trained since that day. "Elder, you wouldn't happen to know where Shampoo is, I still have a small matter to settle with her." The last was added as Ryouga clenched her hand hard enough to draw blood.

"Careful Girl." Cologne advised as she turned her full attention onto Ryouga, her pipe no longer twirling in her hand. "Shampoo has been punished for her little trick, but what is done is done, and no one can change that." Looking away as she talked, Cologne ignored the angry glare form Ryouga, not really up to teaching the girl the proper way to act around an elder Amazon. "But I did come here to talk about something that has to do with the incident."

Ryouga, still showing a lot of anger as a blue aura danced around her, slowly sat down and settled for glaring at the old women before her, still not trusting her any bit, not after what had happened back in China, and the outcome of it. "Incident, I call it drugging and forcing someone against their will." The words were spat out, as the blue aura grew a bit bigger.

"Silence child!" Cologne spat back as her eyes turned to glare at the black haired girl before her with her best impression of the evil eyes, one hand holding up her staff in an attack position. "That was an incident, I merely followed the Amazon laws dealing with an outside female having close contact with a male of the village."

Eyes smoldering with Rage over the calm, and very degrading manner Cologne spoke about the love powder stunt, had Ryouga screaming out mentally for something to break, something to crush with all of her strength. "Bah, The powder no longer affects me, Ranma helped me find a cure for it."

"Really." Came the calm and slightly amused reply from Cologne as she lowered her staff, one hand rubbing her chin, as she looked closer at Ryouga, mumbling a bit to herself as she narrowed her eyes. "You shouldn't have needed a cure for it, the stuff only works for a single day to two weeks at most, after that, the effect slowly wears off, and by that time, the victim is generally either married to the Amazon who used it or dead." The last was added with a grin as she stepped a bit back, enjoying the shocked look on Ryouga's face. "If the powder failed, the only other cause left was to show that the Amazon warrior was stronger then the male by killing him in battle."

"But... But the powder, my feelings for Mu Tsu?" Ryouga spat out in panic, not even noticing that she was still using the correct pronouncing of Mousse's name when she spoke. The only feeling running through her not that she a where of it, was a cold fear, fueled by the sudden shattering of her last stronghold to deny her feelings. "Whenever I see him, I go gaga in the head, and forget why I'm mad at you people."

Cologne, politely ignoring the small insult towards her tribe and herself, looked at Ryouga with a bit of a dark grin on her face as she twirled the staff around in one hand. "Well, I'm guess that you and the young Ranma boy went searching for a cure as soon as the powder started to lose it's more powerful effect, right?"

Ryouga, stopping in her depression, looked at Cologne one more time, slowly moving her hands away from the make shift robe she had making out of her spare clothes. "Yes, I wanted it out of me, I wanted to forget what had nearly happened, I was desperate to get rid of the feelings your damn powder caused me to feel."

"And that is where things went wrong." Cologne said as she began to grin, her eyes narrowed in laughter as she stood up from where she sat on the ground. "I'm guessing this help you got, was from a simple big town merchant." Seeing Ryouga look away rather fast, Cologne grinned even wider as she moved towards the tent opening. "Seems you are partly to blame for it yourself, you should have never tried to counter the powder with another one, especially if you don't know how the powder was made to begin with."

"What?!" Ryouga yelled out as she stumbled over to the tent opening, looking out into the dark night, the only light coming from her small campfire. Looking around the place, Ryouga sighed when she failed to see any sign of the old Amazon woman anywhere, not even a single track on the ground to help her see where she went. "Dammit, I swear, I will be free of this stupid powder's influence, no matter what."

"That, Girl, will be hard to do." Cologne muttered to herself as she looked down at Ryouga sitting down by the campfire, turning around in the tree that had shield her from sight, the old Amazon shook her head as she began to move away. Things were really going to get strange around here, and she didn't want to think of the mess Shampoo's arrival would cause. "Yes, things are really going to be fun to watch."

---------------------

Sneezing suddenly as she stepping off the boat, Shampoo grinned as she found herself of the shore of the red haired girls homeland, behind her, the couple who had given her a lift to this country was shaking as they awaited her orders. (You two can leave now, and I advise you to forget all that you saw here.) Shampoo spoke without looking at them as she began to walk away, ignoring the stares the few people around gave her.

On the boat, the man had nodded as he backed away, already reached for the line that secured the boat to the side of the harbor, ready to get away from the violent and rather countryside child, their respect for the people republic of China having taken a nose dive in the last few weeks with her.

Ignoring the boat and people on the pier, Shampoo defiantly began to walk towards the shore, her eyes narrowing as she prepared for the hardest part of her quest so far, finding her way to her target, through a foreign nation without any clue as too where she should look in the first place. But such things didn't matter to her, as an Amazon, she was expected to overcome such trials and return to the village in honor and glory, parading the red haired girls ponytail of her spear when she entered the gates as a sign of her victory.

---------------------

Lifting up the lid of the trunk, Soun peered down into the inside of it, a smile moving across his face as memories of a long time past came back to him, slowly, almost scared of what he would see, his hand moved down into the box and pulled out an old picture frame. Turning it around, he stared at the photo behind the glass, watching how every single person on it looked like.

In one corner he and Genma were standing, big smiles on their faces as they waved to the one taking the photo. Both of them were dressed in a simple training outfit since they had just returned from a training session with the master when it had been taken. Next to them in the picture, two older girls were standing, a hand on their shoulders and smiling as well. "Kimiko!" breathing in harshly at the sight of his wife happy face, Soun looked up and took a moment to remember his sweet wife, how gentle she had been.

Looking back down at the photo again, his eyes went to the black haired women behind his wife, her arm wrapped around his Kimiko's in a friendly manner, the other one holding onto the simple wooden stick. Completely opposite, yet they had been so good friends, just like him and Genma, one was calm and delicate, the other rough and easy to anger. Despite it, they had gotten along all four when they had met, then, after he and Kimiko had gotten Kasumi and Nabiki, it had just happened, how he had regretted the day when. "Kimiko, Nanami, I'm so sorry..."

Tbc: Confrontations, Ranma VS Mousse.

AN: Sorry for the long delay with this story, truth be told I suffered form a rather bad writers block right after I had begun to work on this chapter, after it passed, I didn't have anytime as I was far to busy with Unlikely Couple and four other stories to focus on this one, this was followed by to much in my life to write again and finally my computer died on me. But now, the chapter is done at last, and I should be ready to pick up the pace again.


End file.
